Volunteers clean Lake Tahoe’s shoreline after Fourth of July weekend
awhitney@tahoedailytribune.com
Provided / League to Save Lake Tahoe |
On Tuesday, July 5, visitors and local community members spent the morning picking up trash left behind by the weekend’s Fourth of July festivities. Efforts by League to Save Lake Tahoe, its sponsors and volunteers cleaned up 1,596 pounds of trash across nine beaches.
Roughly 330 people volunteered in the League’s Keep Tahoe Red, White & Blue event held Tuesday morning. Men, women and children of all ages worked together to pick up trash in order to protect the lake’s clarity.
“It’s inspiring to see over 330 volunteers coming out that have a heart for this place,” League to Save Lake Tahoe’s community engagement manager Marilee Movius said.
The League recently analyzed findings from Tuesday’s cleanups, and the most common items trashed on the beach included cigarette butts and single-use plastics. League to Save Lake Tahoe and its volunteers picked up 7,738 cigarette butts and 7,630 pieces of single-use plastics — which included plastic bottle caps, lids, straws and bags.
“These numbers don’t include what land management picked up before us,” Movius said.
The League and volunteers additionally collected more than 1,700 food wrappers, 300 Band-Aids and 1,331 metal bottle caps.
According to Movius, these numbers resemble those of previous years, but it is difficult to compare them directly because conditions such as weather and volunteer turnout impact results.
“It’s wonderful to see we’re all working together to keep Tahoe blue,” Movius said. “We couldn’t do this without our sponsors and volunteers.”
Moving forward, the League is working to create solutions to lake-wide trash problems, including placement of cigarette canisters. The League is also promoting use of reusable water bottles and items made of stainless steel or bamboo ware, all of which deter the use of single-use plastics.
The League to Save Lake Tahoe’s next scheduled cleanup is its Labor Day event, which begins at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 5. The location has yet to be determined.
For more information or to learn about the League, visit http://www.keeptahoeblue.org.
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