Word: rentrup
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Despite complaints from angry residents worried about their safety, the mayor of Dörentrup, Friedrich Ehlert, still defends his original decision to flip the switch. "If I watch TV at home, and then go into another room, I switch the lights off in the lounge," he says. "People shouldn't expect the streetlights to be on when they're not outside." But he's delighted with the new scheme, pointing out that, although the council picks up the electricity bill every time anyone uses Dial4Light (locals pay for the call), it's still cheaper than running the streetlights through...
Every night at 11 p.m., the village of Dörentrup in central Germany is thrown into total darkness. Strapped for cash for the past few years, the local council has taken to switching off all the streetlights. But while the scheme saves money, it left residents like Dieter Grote and his wife worrying about their children coming home in the dark. "My wife has all the good ideas," says Grote, who runs an advertising agency. "I discussed the problem with her and we thought it must be possible to have the lights available on demand." Grote got in touch...
...residents of Dörentrup can now switch on the lights on a specific street whenever they like. All they have to do is register for the scheme online and provide a phone number. Each time they need to see in the dark, they call the Dial4Light number and either recite or enter the six-digit code - which can be found online or on every lamp in each street - that corresponds to the stretch of road they want lit. Within seconds, the lights are on, and they'll stay on long enough for someone to walk from...
After a pilot project last year proved a big hit with the public, Dörentrup council has decided to roll out the scheme for the entire village (pop. 9,000). Utility company Lemgo estimates it will cut Dörentrup's carbon emissions by some 12 tons each year compared with leaving the streetlights on all night. "We found out that on each stretch of road, people only switch on the lights up to three times each night," explains Frank Bräuer, project leader at Lemgo. "That's why this system works in villages or on the outskirts...
...mayor of Dörentrup, Friedrich Ehlert, sees the new project as win-win. After he was forced to turn off the village lights to help save money, he faced complaints from angry residents worried about their safety when making their way home in the dark in the dead of night. He still defends his decision to flip the switch - "If I watch TV at home, and then go into another room, I switch the lights off in the lounge; people shouldn't expect the streetlights to be on when they're not outside" - but says that any money saved...