Volunteers pick up 796 lbs of litter from Lake Tahoe area beaches and rivers

On the morning of Saturday, September 15, Clean Tahoe and Keep Tahoe Blue volunteers scoured beaches, rivers, and meadows along the south and east shores of Lake Tahoe to pick up trash and debris as part of the 10th annual Great Sierra River Cleanup.

107 volunteers split up into eight different groups and cleaned litter from areas around Trout Creek, Taylor Creek & Kiva Beach, Regan Beach, Chimney Beach, and Zephyr Cove Beach. In total they removed 796 pounds of trash from our environment including 1,011 cigarette butts, 934 food wrappers, 415 plastic bottles, and 778 small pieces of plastic among other items. Volunteers also picked up dog waste, with one volunteer at Kiva Beach collecting over 6 pounds of poop!

League to Save Lake Tahoe Community Engagement Manager Marilee Movius explained why their organization participates in the event. “We are so proud to continue our involvement with the Great Sierra River Cleanup. It is a very important event, particularly in Tahoe, because it is the last major clean-up effort after the busy summer and before snow covers up the beaches. Everything that is left behind ends up in the Lake so these dedicated volunteers are truly keeping Tahoe blue.”

In addition to the cigarette butts, food wrappers, single-use plastic, dog waste, and micro-trash, volunteers found a number of unusual and large items including furniture, tires, shoes, sleeping bags, and a large rusted metal pipe.

Catherine Cecchi from Clean Tahoe said her organization was also proud to be participating in the event again. “This is one of the best cleanups of the year for us at Clean Tahoe because it gives us an opportunity to focus on waterways and to organize volunteers in a number of locations that are in need of litter cleanup. Plus, we love working with all the volunteers, from youth groups like SOS Outreach to representatives of the Moose Lodge to long-time site leaders who have participated in our cleanup events for almost 20 years. It’s so satisfying to see what can be accomplished in a few hours with so many people helping out.”