1,600 lbs. of trash collected from Tahoe beaches

Garbage at Zephyr Shoals on July 4. Photo/LTN

Nearly 300 volunteers on July 5 picked up 1,600 pounds of trash, including 5,266 pieces of plastic such as caps, bottles, utensils, and straws.

During the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s post-Independence Day cleanup, volunteers and staff catalogued debris collected from more than 4.5 miles of Tahoe’s shoreline, finding, for example 4,053 cigarette butts.

Each year, more than a quarter million visitors converge on Lake Tahoe for July 4.

League volunteers and staff and their partners cleaned up the shoreline along nine of Tahoe’s beaches: Kiva/Taylor Beach, Tallac Historic Site, Regan Beach, El Dorado Beach, Timber Cove, Nevada Beach, Zephyr Shoals, Kings Beach, and Commons Beach.