Two letters published recently in The Malta Independent highlighted what seems to be a growing problem – noise pollution. One mentioned loud music coming from a night club which goes on till the early hours of the morning, and another mentioned an activity which went on well into the night in spite of complaints by residents to the police.
These two instances are probably the tip of an iceberg which has grown exponentially during the past years.
Little do we realise that we are constantly living in noise, and that silence, golden as it may be, is hardly ever experienced unless one is far away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
Noise does not only come from loud music that disrupts sleep, although these residents have every right to complain that the police should exercise tougher control with any perpetrators. And it does not disturb only during the night either, as during the day there are so many things that create noise – and probably we do not even realise it.
Apart from the traffic passing by in the streets and the jackhammers and other equipment that is used in the construction industry, just try to notice the volume of the noise that is created domestically, with the television switched on, the humming of the computer and the air-conditioner, even a kettle that is boiling.
These are kinds of noises that can be found in an office too. Even as this leader is being written, the clicks of the various keyboards in the newsroom make the effort a noisy one, although at least not as noisy as when typewriters were used. And in the meantime a telephone and mobile phone have gone off too.
If one had to stop and think, one realises that there is never complete silence, not even in our homes with all the windows and doors closed. There is always some kind of sound coming from the water heater or the fan.
All these factors must be having a negative effect on our health – both physically and psychologically. Doctors will tell you that more and more people are complaining about hearing problems, while noise pollution also contributes heavily to the stress and tension people experience in their everyday life.
Noise disturbs our concentration, and therefore people need to focus more on what they are doing to do it well. This of course leads to added anxiety, and it is no wonder that more people today suffer from tension.
Unfortunately, there seems to be little that one can do to reduce noise. We cannot live without cars and there will always be some kind on construction going on. We have got used to our domestic appliances and nobody will ever think of doing without them. And we cannot go about our business with ear plugs which, by the way, should be used by people working in the construction and other noisy industries but are hardly ever worn.
What we can do is exercise stricter control in situations where noise can be reduced – such as the examples that were mentioned by the two contributors to this newspaper. People should not have a good night’s sleep disturbed by loud music. They should not be woken up with a bang as fireworks activities start at 8am to mark the village feast. And traffic policemen and wardens should be tougher with drivers who fail to repair their vehicles’ broken silencers. Construction work should not start at 6am. As much as possible, mobile phones should be kept on silent mode.
These are little things that can help cut down on excessive noise. The way we are living today makes it hard to hear a pin drop, but at the end of the day we all stand to gain if we manage noise better.