In this page, we offer links to worldwide allies in our struggle against noise pollution, followed by a few of our adversaries. If you wish to add yours or other important website to our listing, please contact us.
Allies
Ban the Cannons—A group based in the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver, Canada, fighting the use of propane cannons and other noisemakers by blueberry and grape farmers to scare away birds.
Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, Manitoba ChapterCitizens Against Audio Trespass—Anti boom car site including a signable petition to U.S. Congress.
Citizens Against Noise of Hawaii—Hawaii bears the burden of nearly 50 percent of U.S. helicopter tourism. It is now simply impossible to go anywhere—even in the state’s two federally designated wilderness areas—without being bombarded by the effects.Citizens Against Overflights Association
Self-description: We are an association of people opposed to aircraft over-flight activity over certain areas on the island of Hawaii.Purpose: To conduct legal activities that will result in the ceassation and / or restriction of aircraft over-flights over private property (especially agricultural land), schools, zoos, parks, and sacred sites. Also, we are concerned with disturbance of wildlife and livestock by air-tour over-flights.
Our activities may include, but are not limited to: the collection of data of all types, educating the public, being a watchdog group, talking to politicians, lawsuits, etc. Some private properties may not be included due to proximity to airports.
We are also concerned for our parks. There is detrimental disturbance of native species by the noise created by aircraft. This detracts from the serenity and preservation of the purpose for which these parks were originally created: the preservation of nature and to provide a natural experience for park goers. Please note: those parks are already protected to some degree. Also, we are concerned with the preservation of native sacred sites.
Contact Us :
P.O. Box 840, Volcano, Hawaii, 96785
email: caoahawaii@yahoo.com
Phone 808-968-7277
Our voice mail is donated by The Native American Center in Volcano, Hi.
Citizens for a Quiet Environment—Anti-noise group based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Council Advocacy for a Better North America is headed by George Evens in Mission, British Columbia. The council endeavours to achieve a healthier, quieter environment for humans and animals.
Phone: 604.807.2393. E-mail: thecounciladvocacy@shaw.ca.
The Franklin Institute Online—Offers a good selection of very interesting, informative articles on stress in general and noise-related stress in particular.GreenSkies Network—GreenSkies is a worldwide information network of environmental organizations concerned with aviation’s environmental effects, including noise. Contact Vanja Bjorke at vanja@greenskies.org.
HEARnet—Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers. We have mixed feelings about this site. We’re glad to see someone publicizing the dangers of rock music, but advocating earplugs as a remedy is a bit like saying gas masks are a cure for air pollution. There’s not much here about the real problem—excessive amplification.
Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise—Claims to be the world’s largest anti-noise group.
Highly Sensitive People—Organization based in Los Angeles. Resources, information, and help for people who experience stimuli much more intensely than most others. To HSPs, even slightly excessive amplification can be overwhelming.Honku—Brooklyn site focused on combating the widespread recreational honking of car horns; features haiku verses sent in by visitors to the site.
Markland Homes Association is involved with the abatement of noise from Pearson Internatiional Airport in Toronto.
Michael Wright’s Collection of Obnoxious Boom Car Ads.The National Center for Biotechnology Information (sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and National Library of Medicine)—A US government sponsored web site that links to a search engine for medical abstracts. Here is the The Pub Med search page.
The National Society for Clean Air in Great Britain is an environmental organization that also includes the need to protect the soundscape (unlike many other such organizations), and is a member of the large European anti-noise group AICB-International Association Against Noise, with headquarters in Lucerne, Switzerland.
The Nature Sounds Society—Dedicated to the preservation, appreciation, & creative use of natural sounds.
The Noise Abatement Society—British society based in Brighton. Advocating for noise-sufferers for over four decades, responsible for the introduction of the Noise Abatement Act, their Helpline can be reached at 01273 878782 on weekdays between 9am and 5pm.
The Noise Center—An arm of the League for the Hard of Hearing, based in New York.
The Noise Control Foundation—organizes frequent international conferences and workshops on noise control. Address:
29 Hornbeck Ridge, Poughkeepsie, NY, USA 12603
Tel: 1-845-471-5493 Fax: 1-845-473-9325
President: William W. Lang.
E-mail: langww@noisecontrolfoundation.org.Noise Free America—Political action group dedicated to increasing public awareness of noise pollution, and to actively lobbying for better legislative controls and enforcement, using a comprehensive array of methods.
Noise Free Hawaii.org—Organization dedicated to tackling noise issues on the Big Island of Hawaii. Tools and resources for political action.Noise Pollution Clearinghouse—This U.S. organization maintains a superb on-line library and is a leader in research and advocacy.
Noiseoff.org—New York City based coalition dedicated to combatting excessive noise. Has plenty of advice and strategies for influencing City Hall.
Noise Tasmania was formed a few years ago to deal with noise problems in Tasmania, Australia.
NoiseWatch—An association in Toronto, Canada (formerly Citizens’ Coalition Against Noise).
One Square Inch—Natural-sound recorder Gordon Hempton is working to get "one square inch" in several US national parks protected from any human-generated noise. That would effectively protect several kilometres around that square inch from many noise-emitting machines and vehicles, especially aircraft. Gordon Hempton is based in the State of Washington.
www.soundtracker.com—Sounds of nature recorded by Gordon Hempton.
Pipedown—A British organization fighting (with some success) against program audio in shops, pubs, etc.... They can be reached by email at pipedown@btinternet.com.Quiet Australia—Umbrella site of anti-noise groups in Australia.
The Quiet Use Coalition is dedicated to protecting and preserving the the public soundscape, and ensuring a quite experience on an untrammelled public landscape well beyond the present generation. Contact information: QUC, P.O. Box 164, Buena Vista, Colorado 81211 USA. E-mail <info@quietuse.org>, web <www.quietuse.org>.
Quieter Please, NZ—A group primarily pursuing the problem with noise from a motor sport and race track noise, particularly the Ruapuna race track in New Zealand.
RAFHI, Residents Against Floatplane and Helicopter Intrusion —A group of residents of Saanich, Vancouver Island, with whom the Right to Quiet society is working to prevent or reduce aircraft noise over residential areas.
Regional Commission for Airport Affairs—RCAA is especially concerned about the proposed expansion of the Seattle-Tacoma airport in Washington State. The site includes an excellent list of anti-airport-noise groups.The U.K. Quiet Pages—British anti-noise umbrella organization formed in 2000, consisting of a coalition including the Noise Network, Pipedown, and aircraft noise groups.
World Forum for Acoustic Ecology—This organization’s focus is on the aesthetics of the soundscape rather than on political action. Their site is well worth a visit.Uk Noise Association. Contact info: UK Noise Association, Broken Wharf House, 2 Broken Wharf, London EC4V 3DT, Great Britain.
Phone: 0207 329 0774, E-mail: <info@ukna.org.uk>,
web: <www.ukna.org.uk>.
Adversaries
BirdGard—Manufacturers of shrill alarms designed to discourage birds deemed undesirable. In addition to vineyards and orchards, they even promote their alarm use in residential areas!
Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate—For many years, these people have been turning the Pacific Ocean into an acoustical hell, in the name of science. They reason that because whales are not actually fleeing from their noise generators, no harm is being done to marine life. One might as well conclude that leaf blowers and unmuffled motorcycles are benign because people don’t visibly react to them. Scary.
Evidence of Noise Addiction
The results of a recent Zogby America survey suggest that addiction to noise is not only possible, but fairly common.
Participants were asked how likely they would be to agree to go one week without music for $1,000. While overall 69.8% would gladly trade a week without music for $1,000, another 29.4% believed the sacrifice was too much.
Among specific subgroups however, the pain of life without music, even for one week, becomes increasingly too much to bear.
For almost half of respondents aged 18-24 years- old, going without music for one week, even for $1,000, was still unthinkable. Even 31.8% of those aged 55-69 said no to going without music for so long.
— Yahoo News, April 20, 2000
— Noiseletter, Spring 2001
