Young volunteer on trash patrol. Photo from Keep Tahoe Blue.
For years volunteers have joined beach clean-up efforts for the day after the 4th of July fireworks. With no displays over the lake this year, the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s annual July 5 Keep Tahoe Red, White and Blue Beach Cleanup still took place.
Tahoe’s beaches were still blanketed in morning shadows when volunteers began plucking cigarette butts, bottle caps and beach toys out of the sand early on July 5. By noon, 235 enthusiastic volunteers had removed 1,456 pounds of litter from ten Tahoe beaches and their surrounding areas.
“People’s passion for protecting Lake Tahoe never ceases to amaze me, even after eight years of organizing cleanups like this one,” said Marilee Movius, Community Engagement Manager for the League to Save Lake Tahoe, also known as Keep Tahoe Blue. “We had families and groups pass by, see what we were doing, drop their beach chairs and start to help. It goes to show that people want to do the right thing – they just need the opportunity.”