LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. — On July 5, 446 local and visiting volunteers gave up three hours of their holiday weekends to show love for Lake Tahoe by participating in the 13th Annual Keep Tahoe Red, White & Blue Cleanup hosted by Keep Tahoe Blue in partnership with more than a dozen organizations and businesses. Participants equipped with reusable bags, clipboards to tally data, and grabbers fanned out across six beach sites around the Lake, stretching from Kings Beach to Kiva Beach, as part of Tahoe’s largest annual cleanup event.
“We feel like it’s our lake too,” said volunteers Roberta and Russ, Southern California residents who have visited Tahoe each summer for 40 years. “This event is a great way to help.”
Lake Tahoe draws large crowds over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. Numerous organizations — including Keep Tahoe Blue, the USDA Forest Service, and Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Council, to name a few — have provided tips and encouragement for beachgoers to be good stewards as they celebrate, so Tahoe stays healthy and beautiful. When people see volunteers actively taking care of Tahoe, it is a living, breathing example of the central stewardship message: everyone who enjoys this special place has a role to play in protecting it.
“I was walking down the beach, and a young couple stopped and asked what I was looking for,” recalls Lisa, a volunteer from Sparks, Nevada who grew up in Incline Village. “I said that we’re all with Keep Tahoe Blue cleaning up the beach. They both nodded and looked at each other, and I could see them realize, ‘we should be doing that too’.”
By noon today, 446 Keep Tahoe Red, White & Blue volunteers removed 1,330 pounds of litter from the beaches and surrounding parking lots, trails, and streets at six separate sites — less litter than average for the annual July 5 event.
For others, their cleanups started after yesterday’s festivities or very early this morning. Community groups, individuals, and staff from beach concessionaires and land managers — like Zephyr Cove Resort, Aramark Destinations, and California State Parks — did their own litter removal work, as did other environmental organizations like Clean Up The Lake. That outpouring of effort illustrates that the movement to care for Lake Tahoe is growing.
“We’re incredibly grateful that so many people are doing their part to protect Lake Tahoe,” said Marilee Movius, Keep Tahoe Blue’s sustainable recreation manager. “When we leave the beach better than we found it, we keep this place swimmable, hikeable, and enjoyable for future generations.”
Since 2013, Keep Tahoe Blue has conducted cleanup events like this one, where volunteers collect not just litter, but also data on what types of trash they find, where, and how much. By analyzing the data, Keep Tahoe Blue identifies trends and then pushes for solutions that stop litter at the source. Past successes include bans on single-use plastic water bottles and Styrofoam, the deployment of beach-cleaning robots, and a beach management initiative called the Tahoe Blue Beach program. As part of the program, bold new stewardship signage was installed at six beaches this year. It’s part of the collaborative effort between Keep Tahoe Blue, land managers, and businesses to make responsible, Lake-friendly recreation the easy and obvious choice for everyone who comes to the shore.
The cleanup was made possible with the support of event partners: Tahoe City Public Utility District, Tahoe City Downtown Association,USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Zephyr Cove Resort and Aramark Destinations, City of South Lake Tahoe, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, California State Parks, Northstar Mountain Resort, Protect Our Winters, Great Basin Institute, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Camp Richardson Resort, Valhalla Tahoe, ExplorUS and Bally’s Lake Tahoe.
Keep Tahoe Blue is aligned with and taking action to implement the Lake Tahoe Destination Stewardship Plan in collaboration with over 20 regional organizations. The award-winning plan, developed with the participation of over 3,000 residents, visitors, and businesses, establishes a shared vision for the region’s outdoor recreation and tourism and encourages everyone to help take care of Tahoe’s cherished communities and environment. Visit www.stewardshiptahoe.org to learn more and read the plan.
