Tahoe Visitors, Beaches and Trash Oh My!
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Sun, 06/23/2024 - 5:05pm
The recent article “Beach managers and operators prepare to Keep Tahoe Blue this summer”, is a noble attempt at curbing the trash problem at Lake Tahoe that occurs each summer from visitors and tourists.
The banning of plastic water bottles for sale in South Lake Tahoe and other curbs of disposable items, does not address people driving in with their own supplies. The program also doesn’t address people who visit beaches with no entrance fee, mainly the beaches people hike down to along State Route 28 on the Nevada side.
Depending on whether these people are at Tahoe for a day or a weekend, they may never encounter signage, the Stewardship Plan or volunteers.
Deploying volunteers to beaches without an entrance fee along the eastern shore should be strongly considered. The illegal parking from past summers along State Route 28 on the eastern shore should be proof enough that there needs to be some presence of watchdogs over beach goers. It’s unfortunate that people need chaperoning to discourage bad behavior.
The article mentions that for the Zephyr Cove and Shoals resort area that people will be issued trash bags. Let's hope these are not plastic! But to go further and make contact with as many people as possible entering the basin who intend on going to a beach, reusable trash bags could be handed out. This could be done say at the Meyers Border Station on weekends when heavy visitation is expected. It could be setting up a check point type of system where volunteers can interact with vehicles entering the basin and hand out educational information along with a reusable trash bag. These visitors would be given information regarding proper bear protocol, legal parking areas and any other information deemed essential to help people follow proper etiquette. For visitors coming up Hwy 50 from Carson City and turning onto State Route 28, this could be done by the first meadow after Spooner Lake.
Handing out reusable trash bags is an expense. But if ordered in volume, there should be price breaks. Even if this is 50% effective, it will impact the lake hugely. Here is an example of the type to consider-
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BYHPDBVB/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&pf_rd_p=...
There could even be a voucher included that when people go to a designated trash drop off site with their full bag, they could receive a free drink from a local establishment or some other small token.
Changing behavior has to not only be convenient to the people you want to change, but also giving a reward encourages changing the behavior. Connecting with visitors at basin entry points might yield a higher percentage of people receiving the information that the Stewardship Plan is trying to reach.
Volunteers on accessible beaches with no fees, reusable trash bags, educational material and possibly vouchers for rewards, might have an impact on keeping Tahoe clean without over burdening the volunteers who clean up the beaches from visitors as well as keeping trash out of the lake.
I and my family try to capture as much trash floating in the lake as we can when we boat. After every weekend with large amounts of visitors, there is a lot!
April Stephens
Douglas County
