Nevadans can soon choose a new license plate design.
"Save Starry Skies" is sponsored by the non-profit Friends of Nevada Wilderness and they say the plate is the first in the country that promotes "dark sky conservation." The plate depicts a silhouette of a family looking at the Big Dipper constellation during twilight.
The plate was created by Jonathan Boarini, graphic design professor and department chair at the College of Southern Nevada. His design was selected out of dozens.
"There's a dad showing it to his kids and that just symbolizes the importance of preserving it for the younger generations," Boarini told Channel 13.
Boarini volunteers as an advocate for Dark Sky International and works to promote astro-tourism throughout rural Nevada, where you can see some of the darkest skies in the United States.
"When I moved to Nevada, I experienced real dark skies for the first time and like many that experience it, it's a very moving thing," Boarini said. "It's just something that really stays with you and once you come back to the big cities, you realize that it's something that is very special and that we're losing and that we've lost. And so, it's something that made me want to get involved to protect it."
Studies have shown that the majority of the American population can't step outside their homes and experience a truly natural sky due to light pollution.
