Tahoe’s Fourth of July aftermath a cleanup ‘hangover’

Ashleigh Goodwin Tahoe Daily Tribune

The League to Save Lake Tahoe hosted its 10th annual Keep Tahoe Red, White and Blue July 5 cleanup but rather than celebrating its decade milestone, volunteers and by cleanup organizers witnessed a “landfill” at one of Tahoe’s beaches.

After a spectacular fireworks display celebrating Independence Day, spectators left behind some 8,559 pounds of discarded cigarette butts, plastic food wrappers, beach toys and even barbecues that were collected over the course of three hours by cleanup volunteers. A total of 402 volunteers worked six locations around the lake, according to a League to Save Lake Tahoe news release.