A Tahoe tradition with cleaner beaches and big hearts
July 19, 2025 | Member Submitted
Originally published in the Keep Tahoe Blue Newsletter, 07/19/2025
This year’s July 5th “Keep Tahoe Red, White & Blue” Cleanup showed something truly encouraging: cleaner beaches after the holiday. Thanks in part to our Tahoe Blue Beach program, proactive outreach, and individuals leaving Tahoe’s beaches better than they found them, 669 volunteers collected 26% less litter than last year from Tahoe’s shores and surrounding areas.
The success of this July 5th tradition is about more than data. It’s about people — from long-time residents to first-time visitors, coming together to protect the Lake.
- Ashley Mau and Liz Gustafson drove up from Reno after seeing videos of wrecked beaches on social media in 2023. They didn’t join in Tahoe’s Fourth of July festivities, but wanted to help clean up afterward.
- Julie, Nick, and Klay Abbatelli, campers at Zephyr Cove Resort, made volunteering part of their family vacation.
- Heather and Steve Plumb and their kids, who were visiting Kings Beach with friends, have always wanted to come to Lake Tahoe for the Fourth of July weekend and attend the cleanup on July 5th. This year they did and even stuck around to help move bags of collected litter to dumpsters.
Their stories and hundreds more like them show how powerful small actions can be to Keep Tahoe Blue.