In order for our own Lake Michigan and the surrounding water in the Midwest to stay clean, fresh and sustainable there are quite a few steps and precautions that must be taken. People need to take into account that keeping the Great Lakes great is not just a five or even ten year process. Many of the leading organizations are trying to get people involved as soon as possible which is great! But I think many supporters don't comprehend just how big of a project the Great Lakes really is. Most organizations that handle the Great Lakes are large, yes, but most of have them have some limitations particularly when it comes to funding and budgets. Some of the actors that my team has written about before like Freshwater Future, Compact Implementation Coalition and the Great Lakes Protection Fund really try to set up information on their websites about exactly who they are and what they handle. Online, it lays out what kinds of grants they ask for and receive and how. This, as well as where all that money gets distributed in coordination with the goals of the actor. All in all, there is only so much that can go towards the lakes and because of this, I think some people tend to underestimate the importance of clean water initiatives.
Just because a good cause like Freshwater Future isn't known by many people doesn't mean that any or all goals of the initiative are unattainable. For Freshwater Future and many others, I believe the greatest strengths of these organizations have been and continue to be spreading awareness and convincing people to get on board with what needs to be done in our waters. Unfortunately in a lot of ways, these actors are still at the beginning stages of their development with the public. People need to know much more about them and hear of them before they can be raising more money for the Great Lakes. Once the public is made much more aware of actors like these, then people need to be sold on ideas. People need to be sold on the idea of the Asian Carp causing a legitimate threat to the ecosystem. People need to be sold on the idea that we must have a zero tolerance for raw sewage dumping. Once people are 100 percent sold on the idea that our freshwater is actually of vital importance to all humanity, then the real life impact is what we will see unfold right before our eyes.
These are images (a couple from WTMJ, a Milwaukee news station) of an aerial view of some raw sewage dumped into Lake Michigan likely killing everything in its way and contaminating the water.
Overall, I think the actors currently involved in the Great Lakes projects are doing a wonderful job with the initial "making people aware" epidemic. Although many are still uneducated on our waters, the actors are getting larger as well as multiplying. This may be the best news yet, but the most difficult task ahead of actors and supporters will be convincing the public to invest their own time or money to help these water causes over long periods of time.
Tyler,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post, as it reminded me just how important education is to funding and implementation as you mentioned. People won’t be on board with initiatives such as the Freshwater Future without fully understanding the consequences on our great lakes if action is not taken! Even myself, considerably concerned with environmental issues, am not aware of the potential devastating consequences of Asian Carp, or just how much sewage is actually being dumped into our lakes. I know that raw sewage in the lake is bad. I don't think any one would disagree with that. But people become so UNINSPIRED when there is no solution presented. when only the scary consequences are made aware to the public, people don't stick around long enough to hear about what groups such as Freshwater Future are trying to do to fix this and how the public can help. It is such a tricky ordeal getting people involved, invested, and concerned about major issue that will have extremely negative consequences of human lives, if not their own, then the underprivileged who will feel the harsh effects. Yay... So, I definitely agree that public awareness is crucial to for groups such as the Freshwater Future for making real, concrete change in our lakes.
Valerie,
ReplyDeleteI would like to agree with you on Tyler's post. Education is definitely a huge factor in providing funding for these big projects that help protect what we hold very dear to us, Lake Michigan (and I would assume other states surrounding the other Great Lakes feel the same as we do).
I knew that raw sewage was being dumped into the lake from Milwaukee and Chicago, as do most people living in our area. What most people DON'T know is how often it occurs, or why for that matter. I had a summer internship at Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) and the fact that I had to work there in order to understand all that goes into play with the dumping and why it occurs shows that how hard it is for the general public to get the necessary information they need/want.
As far as Asian Carp goes, I believe I know what I need to know, but again; that is because I have been going to school for the past 5 or so years, with loads of information being fed constantly. For those in the workforce, middle-aged, elderly or immigrants...none of these people have the information needed to understand what all goes on with many of these issues that affect our lake.
Going back to what Tyler said, once the public is aware of what these actors are doing and their goals are, I believe they can better achieve them.