March 31, 2022 – Minnesota – A business installed LED lights which created a discriminatory environment for an employee with epilepsy. The employee requested accommodation, and the employer removed the LED lights. Letter from Employee
January 13, 2022 – Medford, Oregon – The Council approved a plan to allow an artist to build a massive statue and then fill this statue with LED lights that would, “grab the attention of drivers all the way to the freeway.” We wrote to the council alerting them to the city’s liability for approving such a proposal, and the city council wisely chose to withdraw their support of the project. Letter from city of Medford.
2021 – Lidl’s, United Kingdom – A reporter created a video which shows the results of thoughtless application of LED lighting. The reporter highlights the paralysis of employees of a corporation who believe they have no power to effect change on their own. The reporter then takes action on his own to reduce the light trespass. Video.
2020 – Placer County, California – A 5000K LED floodlight was installed on a residential property in a rural area that could be seen for miles away and was a nuisance to all who lived in the area. Soft Lights contacted the owner, but nothing happened. We then contacted Placer County Code Enforcement. After 5 months, Code Enforcement dropped the case. Soft Lights then sent a letter to the property owner stating that we would file multiple Small Claims lawsuits for $2,000 each for an illegal nuisance. This worked and the owner turned off the floodlight.
2020 – Kozushima, Japan – Kozushima Lighting Retrofit
2019 – Dunedin, New Zealand – Led by our partners at Lightwise Guild, we convinced the Dunedin City Council to install soft 2200K LED street lights instead of harsh 3000K in recognized areas of ecological significance. Otago Daily Times
2019 – Una Mas , Sunnyvale, CA – Una Mas is a chain restaurant in the SF Bay Area, California, USA. They installed a movable cooler containing ice creams. The cooler had blinding, bright-white LED strip lighting. We wrote a letter to Una Mas, informing them that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that they make their business available to all customers, including those of us with light sensitivity disabilities. Una Mas did not remove the blinding LED strip, but they moved the cooler to a location that blocks the blinding light. Here is the response from Una Mas:
It Is our pleasure to have you as a valuable Una Mas costumer. We moved the cooler. Sincerely, Una Mas.
2019 – Santa Clara Unified School District, Santa Clara, CA – SCUSD was about to install 4000K outdoor LED lights throughout the entire district, including at a new school site. We contacted a school principal via personal connection, who then put us in touch with the director of the project. We then contacted the director and informed her that 4000K LED lights are damaging to human health. We provided a copy of the American Medical Association Report of 2016. The director responded positively and had the entire project rebid for 3000K lights. We have also asked for amber colored lights, but so far the director has not agreed to this. Here is the SCUSD response:
The District has committed to use 3000K lights for new exterior installations and is moving forward with this. The amber colored lights do not allow the correct color rendition for the District security cameras, so we will be using the regular 3000K spectrum. Thanks again for your diligence. You have made these and all future projects for the District better.
2700K Cities – These cities have set a maximum outdoor color temperature of 2700 Kelvin or less.
Cave Creek, AZ – News Story
Paonia, CO – News Story