During the winter of 2020/21, a single Tahoe Blue Crew (Team Uppaway), removed 2,000 pounds of litter from the unofficial sled hill at Spooner Summit. | |
Later, litter: Progress in stopping sled trash at Spooner Summit | |
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Food wrappers, plastic bottles, broken sleds, and even diapers. Each winter, trash piles up at Tahoe’s unmanaged, unofficial sledding hills, including Spooner Summit. Since at least 2017, League volunteers and partners have rallied to clean up hundreds – and sometimes thousands – of pounds of litter left at the site annually.
Now, thanks to your help and our advocacy team's persistence, the Nevada Department of Transportation is paying for a dumpster, two portable toilets and litter collection by the Clean Tahoe Program this winter and next! Thank you for keeping litter out of the Tahoe environment.
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Tahoe Trash Cube exhibit at the Live at Lakeview concert series. June 2023. | |
This summer, you may have spotted a curious display at community events and concerts around the Lake. Our Tahoe Trash Cube exhibit showcased a small sample of the junk that Tahoe Blue-Gooder volunteers remove from trails, beaches and bike paths. Shockingly, everything you see was collected in just a few short weeks. | |
Together with our collaborators Duft Watterson, we devised a plan to highlight the impact of littering using clear, stackable cubes made from recycled plastic. | |
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The message is simple: Crush It. Don't Kill It. In other words, everyone is welcome to enjoy Lake Tahoe, so long as you do your small part to leave it better than you found it.
Thank you to Duft Watterson for supporting the movement to Keep Tahoe Blue. Thank you as well to our friends at Rustek for showcasing "Crush It. Don't Kill It." in an entirely plastic-free way.
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A black bear sow and her cubs. Photo: wilkinism, Flickr CC | |
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Lake Tahoe's fall season is turning the corner toward winter, and our local bears are busy preparing for hibernation.
This time of the year, the Basin's black bear population is in a physiological state of hyperphagia – a time when they're on a quest for massive calorie intake to survive the long winter. How many calories? Try 20,000 to 24,000 per day.
To pack on the pounds, bears will take any meal they can get their paws on, including whatever food you leave lying around in unsecured trash cans, cars, or even your house. Run-ins with people are bad news for bears. So, follow these tips to keep Tahoe's bears safe and wild.
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Youth from SOS Outreach speak to local businesses about single-use plastics in spring 2023. | |
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League volunteers and staff work to prevent litter at its source. One way is to push for local ordinances - like in the City of South Lake Tahoe - that ban common types of litter, such as plastic bags, Styrofoam, and most recently, single-use plastic water bottles. Another way is to reach out to businesses directly and ask them to ditch their single-use plastics.
In the fall of 2022 and spring of 2023, outreach teams visited South Shore businesses to share why litter prevention is crucial to protecting the Lake. League CEO Dr. Darcie Goodman Collins wrote a guest column about the successful effort.
This fall and winter, our anti-plastic outreach efforts are going bigger, visiting Tahoe City, Kings Beach and Incline Village. Our special thanks to the UC Davis TERC Advisory Board and other community volunteers on the North Shore who are joining us in outreach.
We created a webpage with useful resources for restaurants, grocery stores and individuals like you to help prevent plastic pollution.
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You may now begin grazing | |
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With Thanksgiving feasts, holiday parties and leftovers smörgåsbords in your future, now is the time to get the proper equipment to pull off a flawless grazing table.
Our charcuterie boards are made from US-grown cherry wood with a laser-engraved Tahoe scene, ideal for impressing your party guests.
Grab a few as gifts. All proceeds benefit our work to Keep Tahoe Blue.
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Attention holiday shoppers: Black Friday is approaching, but we do it a little differently at the League. Keep an eye out for our Big Blue Friday announcement. There may be something special in it for you 😉. | | | |
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Parasol Tahoe Community Foundation supports the League’s new Environment & Education Center
November 14 | Tahoe Daily Tribune
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“We are thrilled for the opportunity to support the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s incredible impact on policy, scientific research and education, and projects dedicated to the protection and restoration of Lake Tahoe.”
Read the story.
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Federal funds would boost water agency fire readiness
November 8 | Mountain Democrat
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A federal funding bill would deliver $1 million to upgrade South Tahoe water infrastructure needed to protect the Basin from wildfire.
Read the story.
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WATCH: Invasive snails threaten Lake Tahoe ecosystem
November 6 | ABC10 Sacramento
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In September, a new aquatic invasive species was discovered in Lake Tahoe. They may be tiny, but these aquatic invaders from New Zealand could cause huge problems for the Lake's delicate ecosystem.
Watch the story.
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Your generosity supports the League's Lake-saving work.
Please give today.
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