In the news they tell people over and over, “Don’t run in the heat” and don’t go out during the hottest part of the time” and yet they organise fan zones in Nyon, or other events in Asse and more. They tell us that we shouldn’t run, that we shouldn’t cycle but they don’t tell those that make sleeping even harder during a heat wave not to make noise.
Last night I went to sleep absurdly early by recent standards. I went to sleep before 2300, slept for about an hour and a half and then was woken, either by the dish washer that I programmed, or by geniuses (ironic) in cars beeping every few minutes after one of the football teams won the ugly game. Ugly because of the antisocial beeping of horns. Ugly because of the Royal Belge Football Club concerns about corruption within FIFA.
It’s not just about the Football though. It’s about noise pollution from the recyclers/construction projects that make hours of noise at the coolest time of day, at the best time of day to aerate, but also to recover on missed sleep.
It seems ironic that people being sporty, is treated as bad behaviour during a pandemic, and yet noisy activities that force us to close windows at night, and during the cooler part of the morning are socially fine, and no one questions them.
The irony is that cycling, hiking and running bring plenty of funds to towns and cities. When we run we’re at least ten to stop for breakfast if we run in the morning, and 15+ when we go on social rides. The thing about social rides is that it can be several groups of 15 or more cyclists. That’s 15 croissants, and fifteen coffees. That’s a good morning for some rural coffee shops.
As I write this there is the noise of industrial machinery being used for road works and similar, and there is the noise pollution from a recycling company throwing things into the back of a van. Imagine a recycling company, working from a barn, that doesn’t consider noise pollution as one of the things it works to avoid. Isn’t recycling about protecting the environment, and isn’t a quiet environment part of what environmentalism is striving for?
In the end, during the canicule we’re attacked from three sides. First, we’re attacked by the oppressive heat, that means that cycling and running should be done at dawn, or dusk, to be safe. Second, we’re in hot apartments that we can’t aerate during the morning because of construction noises, among other sources of noise pollution. Finally, we might go to bed early, and fall asleep like a light around 22:36 like I did last night, but by midnight thirty I was awakened, either by a ‘genius’ honking a car horn, every few minutes for the rest of the night, or by the dish washer starting and waking me.
If it wasn’t for that noise pollution I would have slept for eight or even nine hours, and been fresh, this morning at 7am, to go for a bike ride before it gets too hot. Noise pollution woke me, and I couldn’t get back to sleep. France and Switzerland have nothing in place to make sleeping at night less of a challenge.
The reality of the situation is that the heatwave is a challenge to deal with, but it would be much easier to deal with if noise pollution was under control. Quiet mornings so that we can aerate when it’s cool, and quiet nights so that we can sleep, and get up early, refreshed, would make this heat wave much easier to cope with.
For me to get up at the crack of dawn, to go for a run, or a bike ride, I need a good night of sleep, but a good night of sleep, during a heatwave is already a challenge, without being woken up by car horns and music festivals.
During a heat wave, a key message, in my eyes, should be “Avoid making noise after 10pm, or possibly even earlier. Allow people to sleep, and avoid making noise too early, to allow people to ventilate without noise stress added to heat stress. In effect, show empathy during a heatwave by respecting silence, and the right to sleep, and aerate.
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