‘A labor of love’: Volunteers clean up record amount of trash at Lake Lanier — including a sunken sailboat

 

Published by Forsyth County News

Written by Ben Anderson

FCN regional staff

Published: Oct 28, 2025, 4:14 PM

 

 

The Lake Lanier Association says it cleaned up 128 tons of trash and debris during its 37th annual Shore Sweep last month — far surpassing its previous record of 90 tons.

More than 1,200 volunteers helped with this year’s Shore Sweep, a large-scale, annual event to keep the shoreline and waters of Lake Lanier clean.

“Participants cleaned by boats, jet skis and kayaks on the water, as well as walkers who spread out all over the 692 miles of shoreline on Lake Lanier,” the association said in a news release Friday.

Thanks to help from local marine companies, barges and flotillas were used to clean up large pieces of debris with ease — including a sunken sail boat.

Throughout the past 37 years of Shore Sweep cleanups, a total of 2.58 million pounds of trash have been removed from Lake Lanier.

“Shore Sweep is not only a labor of love for those who live or boat on Lake Lanier, but it is essential to the communities that depend on the water basin for clean, drinking water,” said LLA executive director Victoria Clevenger “It’s pretty incredible to see people from all walks of life come together to share one goal — cleaning up Lake Lanier.”

 

 

This article was original published in The Times, a sibling publication of Forsyth County News.

 

For more information about Shore Sweep visit the Lake Lanier Association’s website.