Grayslake Greenery Garden Club presents: Dark Is the New Green: How Our Light at Night Alters the Wo

When evening gathers and the last ember of sunlight slips away, the world enters its ancient half‑life — the realm of darkness, where plants rest, creatures wander, and the sky unveils its quiet cathedral of stars. For most of Earth’s history, night was a sacred balance to daytime. But in barely a century, our restless glow has pushed back the shadows, reshaping the rhythms of life in ways both subtle and profound.

In this mystical journey into the science of night, Ken Walczak will reveal how our artificial light spills into places it was never meant to go. We’ll explore how migrating birds lose their way, how insects circle endlessly in luminous traps, how plants shift their blooming cycles, and how humans themselves feel the tug of disrupted circadian tides. We’ll consider how the brightening of the night sky dims our connection to the cosmos — a loss not just of stars, but of wonder.

Yet the night is not beyond saving. Ken will share simple, elegant ways to soften our glow, restore the darkness, and let the world breathe again after sunset. Light pollution, he reminds us, is the gentlest environmental challenge to solve — a healing that begins with awareness and a single, mindful choice.

Ken’s life has been shaped by both science and starlight. For 16 years, he guided the Adler Planetarium’s Far Horizons Program, crafting instruments that lifted students and volunteers into the upper reaches of discovery. His research on light pollution has traveled through journals and across international conferences. He helped secure the world’s largest Urban Night Sky Place — the Palos Preserves — a sanctuary where darkness is protected like a rare and ancient species.

A photographer, designer, advocate, and storyteller of the night, Ken serves on the Board of DarkSky International, co‑founded DarkSky Chicago, and is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society. His work invites us to remember something simple and profound: darkness is not the absence of light, but the presence of balance.