One of my friends shared a link on twitter this afternoon that I thought was amazing! The link was for a series of photos taken by Jason Hawkes.

The pictures, which were taken from a helicopter, feature many famous London attractions during the evening or night. The height at which the pictures are taken create great pictures, and the way in which some of the buildings are illuminated during the night look fascinating.

Some of the pictures can be viewed here on Jason’s site, or here on the Boston Globe website.

Please watch this clip from the BBC iPlayer for more information about the pictures:

I liked the section in the video where Jason mentions that all of the lights in the buildings are left switched on despite the fact that nobody is at work!

If you have pictures of companies who leave their lights swiched on during the night, wasting electricity, then please send them in to be featured on the site. Pictures and any comments about the website can be sent to: photos@turnoffyourlights.co.uk

A couple of funny pictures for the blog! These were taken a few weeks ago at the Castle Marina retail park in Nottingham.

I like these photos for several reasons:

• There is a locked barrier to stop people driving into the car park
• There is a security guard sitting in the car to stop people going into the car park
• DFS and Furniture Village are at the opposite end of the (fairly large) car park
• All of the other shops in the retail park had their lights switched off

DFS and Furniture Village: We’re in a credit crunch – turn your lights off!

Apologies for the blurry/noisy photos. I have recently bought a new camera so hopefully the quality of the pictures I take will start to improve! I am currently writing the content for the main website, which will feature a section on night photography – watch this space!

Please let me know if you have spotted businesses who are leaving their lights switched on and wasting energy! Take a photo and send them in to be featured on the site. All photos can be sent to: photos@turnoffyourlights.co.uk

Here are a few more pictures that I have taken around Nottingham. Have you ever noticed how many garages leave their showroom lights on through the night? I can kind of see the reasons behind it, they want people to look in, see the cars and then go back in the morning for a test drive..

Fair enough, but how many people are walking past garages at 1 o’clock on Sunday morning looking at cars?

These two garages are on Lenton Lane in Nottingham – Nobody dares to walk around there at night! The only people who drive past are doing 70mph on the A52 Ring Road.

This is a picture of the Ferrari garage:

Here is the Sytner BMW garage:

I wish that I had taken a photo of the Honda garage. They are located next to the Ferrari building and all of their lights were switched off.

Have you seen any businesses who are leaving their lights switched on and wasting energy? Please take a picture and send them in to be featured on the site. All photos can be sent to: photos@turnoffyourlights.co.uk

Welcome to my new blog: Turn off your lights! I’m currently still working on the design for the main website, but as the blog is finished I decided to start using it.

The main website will give people the opportunity to name and shame businesses and organisations who waste energy by leaving their lights switched on through the night when  there is no-one there.

The idea to create the site came last year when I lived near the train station in Nottingham. I would often walk home from town on the weekend in the early hours of the morning past the Capital One offices. I was always surprised by how many lights they had on and no matter how much I looked through the windows I never saw anyone inside!

Nearly a year on, Capital One still leave their lights on! These pictures were taken on Saturday 3rd January, 2008. Admittedly, while I was taking the pictures I did see someone, who looked like a cleaner or security guard, walking around one floor – but even so, that’s a lot of lights switched on for just one person who can only be on one floor at a time!

In kind of a double whammy, I noticed that lots of the computers inside the building were still switched on too! How much power is this (more or less) empty building using?!

More information on Capital One’s attitudes towards Environmental Sustainability can be found on their website: “Every day, we strive to ensure that we operate our business in an environmentally sound and socially responsible manner and seek to raise awareness of sustainability best practices among our shareholders, consumers, associates and suppliers” Really?

If you see any other examples of businesses who are clearly wasting energy then please take a picture and send me photos! All photos can be emailed to: photos@turnoffyourlights.co.uk. If you have any thoughts or suggestions about the site then please get in touch at the same address!