Every Fourth of July, masses of tourists flock to the beautiful beaches surrounding the majestic, blue water of Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, with the extreme influx of people comes significant trash left along the shores, parking lots, and trails. Every year, locals and tourists spend the morning of July 5 picking up litter around the lake with Keep Tahoe Blue. This year, during the 13th Annual Keep Tahoe Red, White, and Blue Cleanup, the organization documented more than 446 volunteers across six beach locations. They removed an estimated 1,300 pounds of trash. There is one positive aspect to that shockingly-large number; it is less than the 12-year average on this day, and considerably less than the outrageous 8559 pounds picked up in 2023.
Keep Tahoe Blue (with the support of several local partners) not only organizes this annual, lake-wide cleanup, but also provides volunteers with reusable bags, grabbers, and clipboards to tally data as they pick up trash. Environmental experts and analysts hope that by collecting data regarding what is being littered and where, positive changes and solutions, like the banning of single-use plastic water bottles and styrofoam, will continue in coming years. Other notable efforts include beach-cleaning robots and the Tahoe Blue Beach Program, which provide further assistance, education, and enforcement of these positive solutions all around the lake.
Along with Keep Tahoe Blue, several other community groups and organizations had their own cleanup programs underway the morning after Fourth of July festivities. Zephyr Cove Resorts, California State Parks, and Clean Up The Lake were just a few of the groups, along with individual volunteers helping to care for the lake after a very busy, and somewhat chaotic weekend in the Tahoe basin.
Although the collected litter was below average on July 5, the July 4 crowds were so large and unruly, some beaches around the lake closed early over the holiday weekend. In Tahoe City, two beaches, Skylandia and Lake Forest Beach, saw extremely large groups of teenagers, which led to underage drinking, excessive littering, and gridlocked traffic in the area. Due to two nights of deputies working to manage the crowds, they ultimately decided to close and turn away anybody trying to enter either of those two beaches.
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In the last three years since the baffling 8,559 pounds of 2023, the amount of litter left behind at the lake has seen a significant decline. Hopefully this means that more people enjoying the lake are practicing Leave No Trace and Pack It In-Pack It Out’principles and being better stewards of the land and water.
Keep Tahoe Blue Trash Tallies:
- 2026: 1,300lbs
- 2025: 1,375lbs
- 2024: 1,866lbs
- 2023: 8,559lbs
- 2022: 3,450lbs
- 2021: 1,500lbs
- 2020: 500lbs (covid-restricted gatherings)
- 2019: 1,875lbs
The 2026 Keep Tahoe Red, White, and Blue Cleanup wouldn’t have been possible without the support from partners of Keep Tahoe Blue: Tahoe City Public Utility District, Tahoe City Downtown Association, USFS Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, Zephyr Cove Resort and Aramark Destinations, City of South Lake Tahoe, Kirkwood Mountain Resort, California State Parks, Northstar Mountain Resort, Protect Our Winters, Great Basin Institute, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Camp Richardson Resort, Valhalla Tahoe, ExplorUS and Bally’s Lake Tahoe.
