INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. – From waste management to single-use plastics, regional leaders gathered at the historic Thunderbird Lodge on Lake Tahoe’s East Shore on Wednesday for the fourth annual Lake Tahoe Litter Summit to discuss ongoing litter challenges and identify solutions to protect the basin.
Hosted by Clean Up The Lake, the summit brought together representatives from federal, state and local government agencies, nonprofits and businesses involved in litter prevention, mitigation and management throughout the Tahoe region. Representatives from the Town of Truckee, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Clean Tahoe, Keep Tahoe Blue and other organizations attended.
“The goal of this event is to really bring the region together to discuss not only the issues that continue to perpetuate with litter around the Tahoe Basin, but also propose solutions and strategies to tackle ongoing issues that have not been addressed,” said Collin West, founder of Clean Up The Lake.
This year’s summit featured two panels: one focused on waste management and another on single-use plastics, litter-related policies and legislative development in the Tahoe Basin. Moderated discussions and interactive breakout sessions also gave attendees opportunities to exchange ideas, identify high-priority projects and strengthen regional partnerships.
“Lake Tahoe has always been beautiful, and so is planet Earth and the world we live in,” West said. “Unfortunately, a lot of places deteriorate around this beautiful world, and we’ve been very fortunate that Lake Tahoe has not been deteriorating as fast as others. But I have seen it with my own eyes, both above and below the surface, how quickly things can change for the worse.”
“I think it takes events like these, it takes people like these that are attending it in order to protect that natural beauty that we all love,” West said. “I think doing whatever we can, no matter how big or how small, we’ll end up making a difference in the end.”
West also highlighted that the summit seeks to foster a culture of continuous learning, recognizing that litter mitigation is an ongoing process for both environmental organizations and individuals.
“Even being me, a leader of an environmental organization at Tahoe, I could know a whole heck of a lot more,” he said.
Clean Up The Lake thanked Athletic Brewing’s Two For The Trails grant program for helping fund the fourth annual summit, as well as Thunderbird Lodge for providing the venue and other partners who contributed in-kind support.
