Should you talk to your neighbour about the health of your lake?
Most of us take scenes like this for granted. We played, swam and chased frogs in the lake when we were kids and expect that our children and grandchildren will be able to do the same.
The fact that you are reading this means that you are one of the knowledgeable people that realize we can no longer take lake health for granted. Lakes all across Canada are experiencing some very troubling symptoms such as blue green algae outbreaks.
These are the views that more and more folks are experiencing each summer :
During a Blue Green Algae Bloom no traditional lake activities are safe!
Many of us come to the lake to get away, relax and spend time with our families and friends. We don’t read local media or attend meetings where we could find about the many threats to our lakes and therefore our enjoyment and our property values. All of these things we hold dear are threatened and most importantly we can do something about it.
We can focus on the two most important areas for protecting our lakes – septic system health and restoring healthy natural shorelines.
So the question is should you talk to your neighbour about the facts – well our view is yes- absolutely. Here are a few suggestions on how to do that:
- As a 1st step folks need to realize that our lakes are threatened
- Property owners on lakes with frequent algae blooms have:
- Lost the enjoyment of their lakes for weeks or months at a time for many summers
- Seen their property values drop substantially
- Some examples are 3 Mile Lake in Muskoka which has blooms most years and Lake Erie where the bloom last year was the size of New York State
- Property owners on lakes with frequent algae blooms have:
Conversationally share this info with your neighbour
- Loan your neighbour a copy of Poop Talk #2 – a C.H.A. Lake Protectors Video
- Most people find this video very entertaining
- It is just over 20 minutes long - & gets people talking
- Has been seen now by over 100,000 people
- they get the message that taking care of their septic system is very important and relates to lake health
Hopefully by this point your neighbours are becoming interested and you can encourage them to
- Join your local lake association
- Learn more on their own from the C.H.A. website etc.
By taking this gentle approach you can maintain your friendship and help to protect the future health of your lake.
If we all take small steps we can make big changes!