“That’s a lot of light for two little islands”. That was the first reaction that many expressed when the NASA photograph showing Malta at the left of a photograph taken from the International Space Station at night.

When one looks at the picture, Malta and Gozo almost look like a blazing filament light bulb. It is true that most cities in Italy look like a big glare of lights, this is understandable, given the concentration of people in some areas.

But the light emanating from Malta clearly shows that we use far too much electricity. A number of NGOs have also remarked on the issue, most notably, the Light Pollution Awareness Group, which first came across and drew attention to the satellite image.

The group suggested that a very practical way of reducing light pollution is to eliminate one in two road lights and to aim them down, focusing the beams towards the ground. We would have to agree. But it also goes deeper than that; we need a culture change. We do like our big bright lights on these islands. Some of it looks wonderful, like the floodlights that light up the bastions of Valletta and Mdina. But we must find a better way. The government has harped on about the cost of producing electricity – yes, we agree, it has soared. But although the interconnector is finally on the way, we must acknowledge that much of the technology that we use in energy generation is archaic, at best. Delimara is being upgraded and although the distribution infrastructure is supposed to minimise electricity losses in cables and transfers, there is much inefficiency elsewhere.

What is needed is investment. As the government preaches, it is investment that allows businesses to compete in an increasingly fast paced system. The same holds true for electricity generation – we must invest and stay ahead.

But aside from the capital infrastructure, we must also invest in new lighting technologies. Just as the government encouraged households to go for low consumption bulbs, it must find a more cost-effective way of illuminating the islands – without causing undue light pollution in the process. There should also be more stringency on standards of lighting provided at private establishments, such as entertainment venues.

To go off on a different tack, this newspaper published two leading articles in the past week, concerning parking on limestone beaches, as well as the plunder of wildlife from coastal areas. We have still not noted any developments. This time we will touch upon littering. Many beaches, bays and swimming spots are nowadays outfitted with waste separation bins. People do use them and they are, on the whole, emptied at regular intervals. But there is still a chronic litter problem and most of it stems from the haphazard disposal of cigarette butts and drink cans and bottles. Boat parties are also a scourge as revelers chuck cans and other rubbish into the sea.

Just as we encouraged wardens to dish out tickets to people who park on beaches, we encourage wardens to patrol beaches. We also suggest a remoulding of the Police Corps Administrative Law Enforcement Unit. This section should, first of all, be given a five-fold increase in manpower. They need to be turned into our ‘soft cops’, who apart from duties related to the countryside and seaside, should be deployed around the coast on land in summer. They need more boats, they need new uniforms, the need more men and they need retraining. Policing is not only about solving crime, it is about educating people, spreading information and being seen as a non-threatening deterrent to those who insist on spoiling our islands, and our future.