Keep Lake Tahoe's beaches clean: "Stash It. Don't Trash It."

The aftermath of the thousands of people who flocked to South Lake Tahoe's beaches last Fourth of July was a ghastly sight. South Lake Tahoe made headlines around the world for the embarrassing amount of trash left on the beaches. It took hundreds of volunteers days to pick up the thousands of pounds of garbage left on the beautiful beaches.

The beach cleanups were actually scheduled to ensure the debris from the fireworks was cleaned off the shoreline. Who knows what would have happened had that not been the case?

To prevent beach goers from leaving behind disgusting amounts of garbage, there are two efforts in the community: A humorous new campaign that aims to remind folks to take care of the region, and free trash bags from South Tahoe Refuse that will be handed out at the beaches.

Through the use of funny headlines and endearing illustrated characters, the campaign tackles litter, dog waste, proper dousing of campfires, bear awareness, and aquatic invasive species prevention. Headlines include, “If it’s your dog then it’s your doody” and “Hide trash here, please.”

Residents and visitors are invited to visit takecaretahoe.org where they can pledge to Take Care, watch a short video that brings the characters to life, learn more about how they can help, and download digital goodies.

“We hope we can make people laugh at their mistakes so they don’t repeat them.” said Heather Segale of UC Davis-Tahoe Environmental Research Center and a member of the organizing committee. “With Take Care, we are reminding everyone to help take care of what they love.”

More than 50 organizations around Lake Tahoe are planning to use the campaign in their outreach efforts. This includes the local towns, counties, and businesses. Already, the campaign can be seen in places like the trashcans in Tahoe City, in the park at Spooner Lake, being taught at summer camps, and throughout Raley’s Supermarkets. More will be rolling out across the area in the next few weeks.

Take Care trash bags will be distributed on most of the beaches on July 4th and beach clean up events are scheduled on July 5th and throughout the summer.

The Take Care campaign was developed by Meg Siegal and Nate Laver in collaboration with designers Adam and Company. The creative talents of Richard Perez and Jessie Rauch were teamed up with stand-up comedians Ryan Sickler and duo Jesse Federman & Jerren Lauder to bring the campaign to life.

The effort was led by the Lake Tahoe Outreach Committee, made up of the Lake Tahoe Sustainability Collaborative, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Fund, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Tahoe Resource Conservation District and UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center.

Funding for Take Care was provided by Tahoe Fund, South Tahoe Alliance of Resorts, Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Martis Fund, California Tahoe Conservancy, Tahoe Marina Owners Association, League to Save Lake Tahoe, South Tahoe Refuse and Barton Health.