Councils should reduce energy wastage and lower light pollution by switching off unnecessary lighting at night, says environment minister Jacqueline Cramer.

According to environmental lobby groups, places in the Netherlands where it gets genuinely dark are increasingly scarce. Around 160,000 advertising hoardings are lit up through the night, and 6,000 buildings are floodlit.
A spokesperson for green group Stichting Natuur en Milieu told the Volkskrant that alongside Puerto Rico, the Netherlands was the most brightly lit in the world.
The results of a survey of carried out by Natuur en Milieu and provincial environmental groups showed that 90% of Dutch people see this as a waste, and want lights that are not essential turned off between midnight and 6 am.