Noise

What else can we do about noise? Well, very much like a carbon footprint, we all have a noise footprint, and there are things we can do to make that noise footprint smaller. For example, don't start mowing your lawn at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Your neighbours will thank you. Or use a rake instead of a leaf blower. In general, noise reduction at the source makes the most sense. So whenever you're looking to buy a new car, air conditioning unit, blender, you name it, make low noise a priority. Many manufacturers will list the noise levels the devices generate, and some even advertise with them. Use that information. Many people think that stronger noise regulation and enforcement are good ideas, even obvious solutions perhaps. But it's not as easy as you may think, because many of the activities that generate noise also generate revenue. Think about an airport and all the business that is associated with it. Our research tells politicians at what noise level they can expect a certain health effect and that helps inform better noise policy. Robert Koch supposedly once said, "One day, mankind will fight noise as relentlessly as Cholera and the Pest." I think we are there, and I hope that we will win this fight, and when we do, we can all have a nice, quiet celebration.