The Spooner Summit sledding hill is popular during the winter months, but more foot traffic inevitably means more litter being left behind. This hill has now been designated a litter hotspot.
Sunday, March 20th, 2022, officials from the League to Save Lake Tahoe set up a table to talk to those sledding and snowman builders alike about keeping the area clean. Although they have Tahoe Blue Crew volunteers to help clean these litter hotspots...it's not enough.
Gavin Feiger, the Senior Policy Analyst at the League to Save Lake Tahoe tells us, "It does all eventually end up in the lake, anything that's left on the ground in the Tahoe Basin goes downhill and ends up in the lake."
However, this year they've installed sanitation huts and a dumpster, which has helped with litter by 90%. But they still expect to clean up around 3,000 pounds of trash per year from Spooner Summit.
Feiger says, "People do want to do the right thing and bring their trash home with them or dispose of it properly, but people are out here having fun and it's just not at the top of their mind."
Officials say you can help a lot, not only if you leave a place better than you found it, but also following proper sled-etiquette.
Marilee Movius, the Community Engagement Manager at the League to Save Lake Tahoe lists, "Choosing a durable sled made of wood, aluminum, metal or a really really thick foam or plastic that wont break down."
If your sled does happen to break down, the pieces left behind can be very toxic to the environment. The Tahoe Blue Crews are meant to adopt litter hotspots to give it the extra care it needs to prevent litter from getting into the lake. So far they have trained over 235 crews.
Feiger mentions, "Last winter over 2,000 pounds of trash were hauled out just by our volunteer litter clean up crews."
Ongkar Khalsa, a Volunteer apart of a Tahoe Blue Crew adds, "I mean we pick up trash all over, but this is one of the worst because of the volume of people, wherever there's people there's going to be trash."
A mother daughter volunteer duo, assigned themselves to this popular sledding hill after driving past it so many times and being frustrated by how much destruction they saw.
Khalsa explains, "I kind of look at this as a reverse treasure hunt. I look at this Tahoe area, Lake Tahoe, as a treasure. And so when I go out picking up trash it's like I'm leaving a treasure behind."
She stresses that keeping an area clean is as simple as doing you part, cleaning up after yourself and occasionally others if needed.
Khalsa adds, "Take your own, and pick up a few pieces, and if you have more and more people doing that than the impact will be so much greater."
You can also sign up to be a Tahoe Blue Crew 'Blue-Gooder' to be assigned to a litter hotspot to help Keep Tahoe Blue, giving these hotspots a little extra care can go a long way for Tahoe's environment and prevent further litter or toxins from getting into the lake. You can find the sign up link in this article.
