I think christmas lights are an ENVIRONMENTAL ABOMINATION and should be banned!

[whomovedmychocolate]

Every year millions of people put up tacky crappy lights (and yes there are degrees of tastefulness but really we should be turning lights OFF not on. What a waste of electricity.

Take a look at this site and tell me I am wrong!

I want to start a campaign to encourage local councils to start off by turning off the lights at 11pm and then reduce them year by year.

I'm not a miserable old cowbag btw, I just think it's bloody silly to fill our houses with low energy lightbulbs and then festoon them like the local brothel for 1/12th of the year.

So don't do lights.

Let those of us who want to celebrate the coming of the Light of the World.

Our local council is running a 'Big Switch Off' this week in a bid to up its green credentials

Incidentally, I'm not celebrating the Light of the World. I just think they are pretty

misery guts

The coming of the light into the world - sponsored by Powergen

ScaryScienceT - Not actually a misery guts. Not particularly impressed though that our local council has just closed down the library because they are short of funds but has found an extra £50K to pay for new lights.

'Look children, twinkly lights...you can't read the greeting spelled out with them but never mind, aren't they pretty?!'

Bah humbug I'm afraid

Well that's a reasoned argument DarrellRivers. Did you think it up yourself or did someone help you?

Bah humbug indeed

How environmentally friendly is leaving a flat screen PC on all day...?

Scrooge

Christmas is in my opinion the Christian equivalent of Diwali[sp]Festival of lights.

It is the emergence after eight weeks in darkness into an emerging new season, with the use of lights.

Live and let live.

BTW I recycle everything, right down to swing tags on clothes. But I still have no issue with Christmas lights.

I doubt that Christmas lights are one of the major contributors to environmental problems. Energy (arf!) is best focussed elsewhere IMO.

OTOH, some should be banned on the grounds of bad taste. I'd back that.

I don't mind them. I rather like seeing all the Chritmas lights up really even if I do nearly crash the car ogling at some of the ott creations some people put up. I still like them.

But aaaargh - there ought to be a law about taking them down again after Christmas. We have loads of people round here who keep them up all year. One neighbour even kept a Santa light up all year. I drives me NUTS. Looks bonkers in July!

ADragonis4life - actually your average PC has the same energy usage as having a small electric fire on all the time, likewise screens. I personally use a laptop with energy saving which switches it off after two minutes and powers down the hard drive after five.

No, christmas lights are probably not going to be the tipping point of global warming but are indicative of our tacit agreement to be 'greener' providing it doesn't actually affect us.

How bad would it be to any of you personally if your local council turned off the christmas lights after say 11pm????

Also BreeVDC - you will have to forgive my ignorance here, I thought christmas to christians was the time of Christ's birth and that Yule (the pagan festival) was the movement between the seasons?

Yes Christ is known as the "light of the world" - it was the start of a new "season" in terms of that's when Christianity began (whereas previously it was Judaism).

Noooo, they're cheery and pretty (mostly), and they brighten up the long dark winter evenings, prolly make the streets safer too as it's lighter than it would be otherwise.

But when you have changed all your bulbs for energy saving ones & turned them off as you left the room all year round - it does make it seem rather point less when the house opposite has (for around 6-8 weeks) enough outside lights to enable you to sit in your front garden and read at midnight (without a moon)

I do, however, like indoor Christmas tree lights

How about one house per town is allowed to festoon with gay abandon and everyone else can drive there to have a look?

Dont see why my children can't have the joy of some low watt sparkly lights when the likes of some politicians are being driven around in the biggest and most polluting cars on the planet and then getting into private jets.,

How about if local councils allowed christmas lights but only for 2 weeks out of every year - and that includes the town / city centre lights and those outside people's houses.

I've often thought that there should be a cut off time too when all lights should be out by - because many do cause excessive light, particulary on an estate. So how about lights for 2 weeks between sunset and midnight?

Surely thats a compromise? Iwouldn't like to see them go altogether as they really do help with that christmas feeling!

Dee x

I love chrissy lights. they are fab. the end.