Right to Quiet Society
Ever since moving into my new apartment, I’ve been hunting for the perfect cone of silence. A friend pointed out that I’m not the only one, as the Right to Quiet Society is dedicated to reducing the amount of man-made noise in the world. That’s their logo to your left.
Of course, a lot of the problem here isn’t noise from public places, although I get that from the strip mall next door. At least the rigs stop pulling in and unloading after 10 p.m. It’s individuals’ private noise that drives me nuts: the balcony-located washing machines clattering and dryers buzzing at all hours of the night, the stereo bass rumbling through the walls from televisions and video games, and the mindless television chatter coming from open doors and windows. Laws won’t do anything to control this kind of noise. What’s needed is common sense and consideration for others.
I did notice that The Right to Quiet Society offers a nice print-it-yourself pdf sign saying “Good Neighbors Keep Their Noise to Themselves.” Clandestine mailbox art, maybe?
As an update for others who may be hunting for a cone of silence, I returned the Bose noise-canceling headphones because they didn’t deaden the types of noises I find most annoying, although that was before my new neighbors moved in with their nonstop video games rumbling through my apartment wall. The headphones are fine at what they do, but what they do isn’t what I was looking for.
My experiments with the Westone custom-made earplugs are satisfactory; they felt fine after a bit of buffing and fitting in the audiologist’s office. However, like all earplugs, they’re not all that comfortable to sleep with on a nightly basis. They’re okay when you’re not laying on them, however; I wear them sometimes to write when the neighbors’ games get particularly loud. I expect custom earplugs as about as quiet as I’ll get, short of puncturing my eardrums. If only they could be dense enough to stop sound and soft enough to be comfortable to sleep on. At any rate, I’ve used them several times already and plan to take them with me to Australia next week.
To help me sleep without earplugs, I’m now trying out a Marpac Sound Screen white noise generator. It seems to be working pretty well, based on two nights of testing. The thing is, it’s not quiet. I’d much rather sleep in dead silence. However, its loud, airy whooshing sound doesn’t prevent me from going to sleep the way digital crickets, rain, or running water does, and it seems to do a good job of deadening the kinds of abrupt noises that usually startle me awake. I’m still waking up several times a night, but I’ve been falling right back asleep again, which is key. So, preliminary indications are positive, although adding more noise to the environment isn’t what either I or the Right to Quiet Society would really like….
drupagliassotti @ June 25, 2008