The lights blaze for no one

After everyone goes home
Toronto, ON, December 2009

Quick note: This photo supports our latest Thematic Photographic theme, "Night light". If you'd like to take part - and everyone's welcome to do just that - please follow your mouse here.

Walk through any downtown area in any city at night and you'll be greeted by office buildings ablaze with light despite the fact that no one's home. The eco-geek in me finds this kind of ignorance a little hard to swallow.

The power to keep those lights on has to come from somewhere - usually long-dead dinosaurs - and it bothers me that we're so nonchalant about sucking non-renewable resources out of the planet and then burning them so that we can light up empty spaces. To fritter away such potential for essentially no purpose is, frankly, more than a little galling.

This doesn't stop me from shooting the results, of course. Just because a topic is somewhat disturbing or upsetting doesn't mean it isn't worth recording.

Your turn: The one thing we can do to become a little greener is...?