In honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, virtual activities scheduled all week long 

Take Care Tahoe partners are proud to share daily earth and climate action themed activities in celebration of Earth Day’s 50th anniversary. Check out the daily activities Monday, April 20 through Friday, April 24 at takecaretahoe.org. Through collaboration with environmental education organizations around Tahoe and Truckee, these activities are designed to be fun and educational for both kids and adults. Each day is themed and includes a climate fact, specific actions to take, an activity to take part in, and a color that can be worn to show support.  

“Despite what’s happening in the world right now, the organizations that love Lake Tahoe and help plan Earth Day celebrations around Tahoe realized there are easy things that every one of us can do from home to honor the Earth and take action on climate initiatives,” said Crew Stover, program and outreach coordinator at the Tahoe Fund, a Take Care Tahoe partner. “We’ve compiled a variety of fun activities that participants of all ages can join in all week long to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.”

Join the Take Care Tahoe Earth Week challenge to make a difference. Take photos or videos throughout the week and share your experiences with your friends, family, teachers, or on social media using #TakeActionTahoe. 

Mother Nature Monday: Help plan and eat three meals without any meat, and check-out the week-long scavenger hunt organized by the Tahoe Institute for Natural Sciences.

Transportation Tuesday: To be more mindful of greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation, take action by registering for the 2020 Tahoe Bike Challenge, and go for a walk or ride your bike instead of driving for errands.

Waste Free Wednesday: To combat plastic pollution, which never breaks down in the environment and is a major source of litter in Tahoe, prepare a meal with little or no disposable packaging. The League to Save Lake Tahoe is offering activities to help people understand how much trash they generate and how to reduce their waste footprint, along with a fun neighborhood clean-up activity to Keep Tahoe Blue.

Thrifty Thursday: We all have the opportunity to reduce our impact on the planet. On Thursday, take action by turning off the lights and unplugging appliances to save energy and learn how to make a reusable grocery bag out of an old T-shirt.

Flourishing Friday: Forests and other non-agricultural lands absorb carbon dioxide emissions, so why not plant a tree! Plant a seed from your lunch (try an apple, cucumber, lemon, or tomato) and make a simple homemade hummingbird feeder to help pollinators.  

As “extra credit,” on Friday, April 24 pick up a sugar pine tree seedling from one of five locations around Lake Tahoe and Truckee and plant it. Pick-up locations and planting instructions available online. For more details and to get involved in Take Care Tahoe’s Earth Week activities, visit takecaretahoe.org/earth-week/ and tag @takecaretahoe and #TakeActionTahoe.

Today’s Fun Fact is a shout out to one of the many businesses who support our $1 for Tahoe program. Alpen Sierra Coffee is a local coffee roaster that supplies delicious coffee to most of Tahoe’s favorite coffee shops. Now you can sign up for their “Coffee of the Month” for just $13 for the month of April. It has never been more important to support local businesses, especially ones that have supported our mission to improve the Tahoe environment for all to enjoy. Cheers! 

Today’s Tahoe Fun Fact is a reminder to please stay home right now. Social distancing plays a key role in stopping the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The more we stay at home and away from others, the more likely we are to not receive or pass the virus. Mountain communities like ours have limited medical capacity, so it’s critical we do our part to slow transmission/flatten the curve. Thankfully, the mountains and Lake will still be here when this passes. And with your continued support, Tahoe Fund will continue to work to ensure their long term preservation.

In just the last 4 days, we have received 120 Inches of snow. While it’s a bittersweet arrival of “Miracle March,” this late season snow will reduce the threat of drought for our trees and fill the Lake back up

The current lake level for Tahoe is 6,227.29 feet, this is down more than 9 inches from this date last year. This drop in water level is equivalent to 31.92 billion gallons of water, or around 108 times the total amount of water used by California-Tahoe Ski Resorts for snowmaking.