Almost 1,500 lbs of trash collected during Clean Tahoe's “Spring Clean”event

After the record-breaking winter we experienced in South Lake Tahoe, we also saw record-breaking amounts of litter throughout our community as the snow melted. On Saturday May 6th, 118 volunteers scoured South Tahoe neighborhoods to help clean it up and kick off the summer with a litter-free town. The groups covered fifteen different locations and gathered 1,484 pounds of trash and debris from our environment.

Volunteers braved the threat of rain and took to the streets around Stateline, Bijou, Al Tahoe, Lakeview Commons, Sierra Tract, Tahoe Island, Gardner Mountain, the “Y”, and Meyers. Some neighborhoods had multiple groups fanning out to cover more ground.

The overwhelming majority of the litter was single-use plastics, packaging, and cigarette butts, but volunteers reported finding a variety of other items as well: broken and discarded bicycles, clothing items, diapers, dog poop bags, car parts, and even drug paraphernalia.

The event was coordinated by the Clean Tahoe Program, with the help of sponsors Harrah’s/Harveys Lake Tahoe and South Tahoe Refuse. In addition, a number of local businesses and organizations participated by coordinating volunteers, including: Harrah’s HEROs program, Hard Rock Casino & Hotel, Hard Rock Café, Inversion Gym, and Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless.

Clean Tahoe is a small nonprofit organization that provides litter cleanup services to the City of South Lake Tahoe and El Dorado County portion of the Tahoe Basin. The Program, which is funded primarily by a small surcharge on City and County customers' South Tahoe Refuse bills, has two field crew staff members who regularly tour neighborhoods, picking up litter and illegally dumped items from our community. In our last fiscal year the field crew picked up an astonishing 560 cubic yards of trash and debris from our roadways and neighborhoods. In addition to litter cleanup, Clean Tahoe works to address sources of litter, and last year issued hundreds of notices to homeowners and businesses for improper trash containment.

This time of year, as the snow melts and uncovers litter that has been hidden for months, it is critical to enlist the help of the community, and the Spring Clean event is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when caring individuals come together and take pride in our neighborhoods.