If you’re finding it a lot easier to notice the stars while walking along West Ipperwash beach, that’s no accident.

West Ipperwash beach is believed to be the first beach in Canada to obtain the new designation of a ‘Compliant Dark Skies Beach’ by the International Dark Skies Association because its residents use energy-efficient LED lights which make it officially easier to see the starlit skies.

Through wasted light from inefficient fixtures, light pollution can lead to not only obscuring the night sky but wasted energy can have adverse effects on the environmental health of the wildlife in the region.

“Look at the people in North Calgary. They lost their mountains to this but then they brought them back,” Dave Bowen, the vice president of West Ipperwash Beach Owners Association said. It achieved this by greatly reducing its light pollution.

West Ipperwash’s residents didn’t want the same thing to happen to their view.

So since last summer, the West Ipperwash Beach Owners Association and the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation have worked together to get their beach to vastly slash the amount of light given off by residents within the Lambton Shores municipality.

The joint effort is important for the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation because they uniquely own, share and maintain the beach together with the residents of Lambton Shores.

A representative from the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation was not available for comment.

The International Dark Skies Association (IDA) works around the world to give designations to areas that conform to their regulations that help eliminate light pollution and light trespass. Light pollution is when sources such as floodlights are shot into the sky and light trespass is when one home’s light fixture lights up multiple homes instead of just its own.

“We’ve recommended not to throw light onto the beach and we’ve accomplished that first” Bowen, also a 10-year member of IDA, said. “And we’re very close to accomplishing the second part of respecting your neighbours – light your own property with the proper lights.”

Bowen, as an owner of several lighting businesses, works to make sure his clients are IDA compliant or are properly zoned for it. But this is the first time he’s got a designation for his own neighbourhood.

While Algonquin Park has the IDA rating of ‘star park’ because it follows the same regulations as West Ipperwash does now, the IDA have never given a similar designation to a beach. And this unique honour comes just in time for Canada’s 150th anniversary.

“This was exactly our goal,” Bowen said. He recalls telling others, “this is something that is basically history. Once we do it -if it’s done in time- it’s our contribution to Canada’s birthday.”