Lakes

Impact Statement

Lakes catch litter before it moves downstream. Clean Up The Lake has logged 36,177 pounds (about 16,400 kg) of litter removed since 2018.

Organization source: Clean Up The Lake, stats

Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup reports more than 277,000 pieces of debris removed and reported through 2025.

Organization source: Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup data

Restoring the Lake Depths removed about 13 tons of debris from Lake Tahoe in summer 2024.

Organization source: Restore My Lake

The Five W's of Lake Solutions

Who

Clean Up The Lake, Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup and Restore My Lake (nonprofits), plus Saving Planets' own Lake Plastic Recovery rule.

What

Removing submerged and floating litter from freshwater lakes with divers, ROVs, Seabins and drones.

When

Ongoing; Clean Up The Lake has been logging removals since 2018.

Organization source: Clean Up The Lake, stats

Where

Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada, and the Great Lakes.

Why

Litter that stays in a lake can break down there or travel downstream into rivers and the ocean. Recovering it at the lake stops both.

Missions and solutions

Clean Up the Lake

Clean Up the Lake removes submerged litter from freshwater lakes using scuba divers and community volunteers.

Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup

The Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup captures plastic across the world's largest freshwater system using Seabins, drones, and beach robots.

Lake Plastic Recovery

Lake Plastic Recovery: pulling plastic out of lakes before it moves downstream. A freshwater solution on Saving Planets.

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