Over the years, the amount of garbage floating in Lake Temagami’s waters and sitting on its shorelines has increased. Of particular concern are plastics, as they can take hundreds of years to break down. They may never do so completely, but instead disintegrate into smaller and smaller pieces – which can have negative impacts on wildlife (especially when ingested).
According to the World Wildlife Fund, plastic bags, for example, can take 20+ years to decompose, plastic water bottles – 450 years, and disposable diapers – 500 years.
To help address this issue, the Temagami Lakes Association would like to issue a “Shoreline Clean-Up Challenge” to its members – and anyone else who resides on, or enjoys, Lake Temagami.
During the Summer of 2023, we encourage year-round and seasonal residents (and visitors) to seek out, and collect, garbage in the water, or on mainland or island shorelines.
We will award prizes at the “TLA Summer BBQ” on Saturday, July 22nd, in these categories:
(a) most garbage collected (by volume or weight)
(b) largest piece of garbage (Hopefully, it won’t sink my boat when I’m taking it to the transfer station.)
(c) strangest piece of garbage (What on Earth is this?)
(d) most-artistic piece of garbage (Michelangelo would be jealous.)
(e) oldest piece of garbage (This thing is older than I am.)
(f) most-useful piece of garbage (This isn’t garbage – it’s something that I can use!)
Please dispose of all items appropriately, and simply bring photographic proof of your efforts to the event, or e-mail them to the TLA. Although, the BBQ will mark only the halfway point of the season, we urge everyone to continue with the clean-up initiative throughout 2023 and beyond.
For further information, please send a message to tla@onlink.net.