At a time when everyone is racking their brains to lower their electricity bill, the expression “energy sobriety” does not seem to mean much to many traders in major French cities. As we wrote in 20 minutes, everyone has a good reason to leave their sign and shop window lit at night. In Lille, Extinction Rebellion activists have decided to force the hand of recalcitrant shops.
Saturday was night day. However, in the city center of Lille, it was rather day in the middle of the night. When the town hall announced its energy sobriety plan, at the beginning of October, a measure provided for “awareness workshops with traders on eco-gestures”. In fact, when you walk through the pedestrian streets after dark, there are few shops plunged into darkness, at least before legal time, which is set at 1 a.m. “When you leave a room, you turn off the light. Why is it not the same thing in shops, ”wonders Cerise, an activist from Extinction Rebellion in Lille.
Go beyond what the law requires
Saturday evening, around thirty members of the movement therefore went hunting for lit windows. Divided into 6 groups, the activists pinned dozens of shops in four districts of Lille. In the lot, the sign Rouge gorge, close to the Grand’place. “I don’t understand since the store is equipped with a system that cuts off the sign and the window at 8:30 p.m.,” explains an employee at 20 minutes. “It’s true that many comply with the law, but what we are asking is that businesses voluntarily go further, by cutting off the light as soon as they close,” insists the activist.
So, in the leaflets taped to the windows of lit shops, Extinction Rebellion recalls five points of common sense. In particular that nocturnal window shopping is useless and that light pollution is bad for humans and biodiversity. “In feeling, compared to the action of last year, we still had the impression that there was better,” concedes Cerise. However, some bad habits die hard. “If it were up to me, of course I would cut everything on leaving work. Except that my bosses don’t want to and I’m not going to go against them, ”laments the manager of a leather goods store.