Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Beach clean up

Hello my name is Maria Gonzalez. I am currently a CSULA student starting her first year. On October 18, 2015 I went to the Dockweiler beach to participate in my very first beach clean up with my English 101 class. The water was greenish blueish and the sand seemed soft yet I knew there was probably hundreds of tiny trash bits buried deep down. Though I got there late I still managed to do my part and help clean up where I was at. Almost everywhere I stepped I found myself picking up used cigarette buds. I got to the conclusion that people who smoked at the beach saw it as a big ash tray for cigarette buds. It was disappointing to know that people didn't care about the beach as much as they should. On the other hand the activity made me feel good for cleaning up a public place and guilty, because it felt like I should be involved in more activities that help the environment. Despite the trash bits I saw and the cigarette buds it was a lovely cloudy day at the Dockweiler beach.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

It was chill

Hey my name is Alonso Lopez and this past Sunday on October 18, 2015 I took 2 hours of my day to help clean the beach with my fellow classmates.This was actually my 2nd time at Dockweiler Beach and it wasn't actually all that dirty. Sure there was some trash but not like any major garbage. In the 2 hours that my group and I cleaned we collected about 80 or so cigarette butts and over a 100 pieces of plastic.Plastic was definitely the most common trash on the beach. The water looked pretty damn gross to be brutally honest, it was all green and yellow. At the beach there was also some sort of triathlon going on there was hundreds of people biking , swimming and running. At the beach I also saw some interesting things like the art on the walls.
My name is Angel Morales I am a freshmen at Cal State LA and my Heal The Bay experience went something like this. It was October 18, one of my favorite months. It was a beautiful cloudy day. I thought it was going to rain so I took my windbreaker. Heading down to the beach it looked like it was going to drizzle because the clouds looked dark grey and heavy. As soon as I arrived at the beach I heard the sound of the waves crashing and saw the seagulls gliding around. There was a triathlon or something around that. At first glance the beach did not seem so dirty to me but when I put my glasses on my perspective changed. I saw trash all over the beach and around the hills. It hit around 9:00am and we received instructions from the people conducting the cleaning and we were advised not to pick up syringes because of its hazards so they gave us gloves and trash bags to clean up the beach. My group and I first started on the beach, in the beginning I picked up bits of paper, and plastic pieces. As my group and I proceeded we came across pieces of sharp glass, multiple Styrofoam pieces, plastic wrappers, and to be exact 92 cigarette butts. At one point we even found an 18-pack carton. It’s amusing how people break the rules and don’t clean up after themselves. I have always wondered why people are so selfish. What I noticed at the beach, there was a lot of trash around the fire pits and I also noticed there was coal still warm from the day prior in one of the pits. I tried to push it over but the fear of burning my self and creating more trash made me leave it alone. My legs were starting to become tired but luckily it was time to meet back with the people in charge. We got to share what we found the most which were the cigarette butts. Overall I had a great experience and it was a real eye opener. It made me think about all the sea critters and how some of the trash that is not thrown correctly is ending up on the beach. Seeing the boats from a distance, cleaning up the beach and seeing the ocean was a good experience. I wished I saw a seal but, there is always a chance next time!

Beach Clean Up at Dockweiler Beach

Hello, Alexis Silva here!, this was my first time to Dockweiler beach, I have been to several beach clean ups and let me tell you this was not bad. It was unusual to say the least. I have never seen a beach with so much ash and chicken bones, yes chicken bones! They were everywhere! Despite that it was a nice beach, even though the water looked a little to green (which means a lot of nutrients in the water) and swarms of sea gulls. I found a lot of of cigarette buds (65), Styrofoam pieces (72), and plastic pieces (76). It's surprising how much junk people leave on the beach like a marshmallow. It was an interesting day at Dockweiler.

Tiny plastic pieces mixed with sea gull feathers




Sea Gull drinking out of fountain

Monday, October 19, 2015

My name is Xitlalic Torres and i am currently a CSULA student. On October 18, 2015, I participated in the Heal The Bay, Beach clean-up with my class for English 101s. The beach we had volunteered to clean was Dockweiler beach. The morning of the clean up I did not want to wake up. I sat at the edge of my bed contemplating whether I should do the alternative assignment, But realized that I would be doing something good for the environment and also I would have a lovely morning at the beach so it was a win win. Each group of students were given a trash bag, gloves, a pencil, and tally sheet with different items we would find on the beach.The most thing our group found were cigarette buds. The strangest things we found were kid's toys, We would find things like Stuffed animals, boogie boards, and Frisbee's. It was sad to see all the trash that gets left behind by people. It was also sad knowing that all the plastic we found could be swallowed by the birds or most marine animals if the plastic washed up in the water. This event has helped me realize that we only have one planet, So we need to take care of it. I also realized that by doing something so small like picking up trash can help the environment and make a huge different. At the end of the day spending my morning at the beach picking up trash was both beautiful and rewarding.

Beach Clean Up With Heal the Bay (Dockweiler Beach)

Hello, my name is Diana Agredano. I'm a freshman at California State University Los Angeles. On October 18, 2015 I was a part of the beach clean up with Heal the Bay organization. It was a wonderful experience that also made me realize many things. During the beach clean up we all partnered up with others to clean. My group and me found many cigarette butts, plastic, aluminum and  bottle caps. While cleaning I was wondering why there was many cigarette butts if it's illegal to smoke in a beach. All of those cigarette butts came from the city which then went to the beach. It's disappointing seeing all the trash in our nature. While being at the beach I also saw that the water was green. The water was green! How can it be possible that in other beaches people get in and the ocean is all joined in one. It was incredible seeing the water green. The reason for the water being green is due to all the trash being thrown to the ocean. I'm glad I got to experience myself how our nature is being treated. Made me feel glad that we did something to help our nature by cleaning the beach. By experiencing it I know in the future I will be more aware of how I will treat our nature. By making a change myself I know I will lead others to make a change with our environment.




Helping out the environment!

Hey guys! My name is Salvador Moreno and I'm a freshman at Cal State LA. My class for English 101s had the opportunity to collaborate with the group Heal the Bay and they clean beaches up for a good cause. I have never attended to a beach clean up and on October 18, 2015 was my first time doing that. It was an amazing feeling to help clean the beach because you feel great doing it. I invited my friends if they wanted to tag along and they said yes. I arrived a bit late because there was a marathon going on and there were cones on the street and I made a wrong turn and was going the opposite way. I finally found my way there and I met with the group and they handed me the bag, checklist, and glove and we were ready to begin. We found all sorts of things on the beach and it disappointed me that people are irresponsible and don't pick up after themselves. The most common things we found were cigarette butts, styrofoam, metal bottle caps, and plastic wrappers. Birds tend to eat the styrofoam because they think its small pieces of food and eventually end up dying because of that. I also saw the water was a bit green and I knew what i was doing will help it go back to normal. It was a great experience and if everyone takes part, we can all make a difference. It begins with us to start the change and encourage others to do the same.


Heal The Bay (Dockweiler Beach Clean-Up)

My name is Alyssa Moreno and this is my first year at CSULA. Recently on October 18th, 2015, I participated in a beach clean up with the Heal the Bay organization. Once at Dockweiler Beach I partnered up with a few of my other classmates, this experience was something I did not expect. All the trash we found and picked up was quite disappointing, like how can people be so irresponsible? The most common trash that my group and I picked up was cigarette butts, bottle caps, aluminum, plastic, and Styrofoam. My group went as far as to find liquor bottles near the greenery of the beach. After awhile my group relaxed for a bit near the water, where I noticed that the water was a bit greenish looking. Knowing that we made a difference for the wildlife and the environment made me feel proud of myself that I chose to participate in the cleanup. It was something quiet exciting and I was able to spend it with people that were easy to talk to and made the experience so much better. Once again I am glad I participated in this eye opening experience. All it takes is one person to make a difference that can better not only our environment, but those around.



      





                                                       


                                                               







Heal The Bay- Dockweiler 
My name is Jorge Ramirez and I am a first year student at Cal State La. For my English 101s class we all participated in a beach clan up at Dockweiler beach with Heal The Bay. On Sunday, October 18th, 2015 I arrived to the beach at 9:00 am, right on time. The coordinators of Heal The Bay divided us into groups of 5 and disbursed to each group a trash-bag to throw trash in and reuse when it is full, a glove each, a pencil, and a form to tally up the kinds of trash we found. I was in a group with fellow classmate Alonso and the 3 other girls I had just met, unfortunately I only remember April. They were kind, positive, fun people all from Fresno. We hit it off pretty well so cleaning up was fun while we conversed. As a group we decided to clean up around the fire pits since we assumed there would be much trash because of the bonfires from the previous day. I was surprised to not find so much trash around there, mainly cigarette butts. The oddest thing we found was a burned pumpkin, the smell was unpleasant but not a repulsive smell. After cleaning up around the pits we went over to the shore where the most common trash there was plastic and again cigarette butts. While we cleaned up we admired the ocean waves, but when we saw the waves come up we were disappointed to see yellow water. At one moment when I reached down to pick up yet again another piece of plastic I noticed the sand was yellow-green up to where the tide came up. I assume it was from the dirty water, but what was it exactly that made the water this dirty? Left with no answer I continued to clean up the beach and talking with the new friends I made. From a distance where we were cleaning I saw a pair of boots with a stuffed animal in one of them, I was not sure if it was trash but then came a long some other students who picked them up. I never went to ask what else was there but that was interesting. It  was 10:20, 10 minutes left to meet back up where they set up so we started walking. On the way back we talked with other groups and they said they found a lot of cigarette butts as well. Once we all regrouped with the Heal the Bay coordinators they asked what was the most common found trash, yes, it was cigarette butts. She explained to us that smoking is illegal on the beach so all the cigarette butts are from the city, being washed down over time when it rains. I never thought of that, I just knew it WAS from people smoking the beach, people don't care about that law, they do it anyway. I have witnessed this first hand, only once have I said something but the people smoking just ignored me. Overall the beach clean up with Heal The Bay was a great experience, I was already eager it for since I was first infrared about it. It felt great cleaning up one of my favorite places with a group of people that will make a difference. I was there were more people participating in this but cleaning up on your own is always a great contribution.




Heal the Bay 2015

Hello, my name is Stephanie Gallego. I currently attend CSULA and recently (on Sunday, October 18th, 2015), for my English class, I participated in a beach clean up for Heal The Bay. For this event we all split up into groups of 5 people and we all went up and down the beach and worked together to clean up pieces of trash that were found all over the beach. Each group was given one trash bag and one data card to record the items that we had picked up.
As my group and I were picking up trash we all noticed that the main thing that we found were cigarette butts. We all thought it quite odd that there were so many cigarette butts there because smoking is not allowed in any beach. We were later informed that those cigarette butts usually get blown over to the beached by the wind. I found this quite sad because if a bird or any other animal were to eat those, they would not be able to digest them. Since they wouldn't be able to digest them, their stomach would seem full and they would soon starve to death.
 I am glad I was able to participate in helping clean up the beach. I have learned by this that if you want something done, like a cleaner beach, YOU, yourself, need to take the first step and start taking action. To me, this was an amazing experience and such an eye opener; we must all work together in preventing pollution. We would save not only our beaches but the animals that live there too.









A CLEAN BEACH IS A HAPPY BEACH.

HEAL THE BAY!! :) (Dockweiler Beach Clean-up)

Trash piled up in the sand.


Things left behind.
My name is Tiarra Penn and on October 18, I attended the Heal The Bay Beach Clean-up with my class and other students at CSULA. Me and a few of my classmates got into a group to help collect trash along the beach. While collecting trash, the things that we found most were cigarette butts, bottle caps, plastic and Styrofoam.  It was crazy to see all of the things that people leave behind simply because they don't consider the fact that they are trashing our Earth. I am glad that I had the opportunity to experience the clean-up, because it gave me an opportunity to have a nice morning on the beach, enjoy the environment, and admire my view. I was glad to know that the beach ended up being that much more clean after we all helped out.  I've learned in class, and hands on that it is very important to take steps to heal our environment. I wouldn't have wanted my view of the beach to be filled with trash. If anything, it shouldn't be hard to clean up after yourself because of all the trashcans present. I think it was great that I actually got the chance to attend the cleanup was because all I could think about were the baby Seagulls, and how horrible it would be for one of them to try to eat cigarette butts or trash. It was great!


                                                

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

 Hi my name is Jocelyn Guox. I'm currently enroll at CSULA. On Saturday April 18th, I had the opportunity to go and help clean-up the LA River. I have done many community service around my neighborhood. Doing all this events makes me realize even more that we are dirty our environment and destroying the little we have left. Once I got to the LA River I wasn't expecting to see how pretty it was. At first I couldn't see any trash but once I got closer I saw many plastic bags, plastic bottles, food wrappers and even clothes. I wasn't expected to see so many trash dumped in the river. I was surprised how the majority of the trash were stuck to trees and between rocks. At the end of the day I was really surprised of what we all had gathered. It was another great experience. I really enjoy helping out the environment. 




              

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Cleaning up the Enviroment One human at a time

   Hello, my name is Adrian  Nunez . On Saturday April 18th I had the opportunity to go and clean up the L.A. River. I have done community service like this before ,where I had to go around  clean up local places. From all the different volunteer events I  got to be part of. I never volunteer in a clean up event as big  as the one about the LA River. This event  stressed the importance of keeping our  environment clean. I would see the small stream of river when I would cross the bridge while driving. Through this event , it showed, rather opened my eyes to the degree of our environment problems. That the problems are real and we can't just keep dismissing them. I got to see the LA River in a better more interesting way. Rather than seeing it when I drive by it and to see it filled with  wild life. Even though it is polluted by the thrash that is not picked up and ends up in the river.  We as members of a bigger thing much more bigger than ourselves have to keep and preserve it.
   
  This event has helped me realize that we can all help the environment even if it may seem small and simple. Any effort is good effort and we are making a change one person at a time.

The LA River Experience






Today April 18, 2015 I got up at six fifty in the morning to go to the LA River for the cleanup. I was lazy to get up, but I was excited about the great opportunity to clean the environment. My classmate Adrian came to picked me up. We were going on our way to school to pick up Alvaro. It was eight fifteen and we were waiting for alvaro so that we could head to our way to the LA River. However, we were worry because we didn’t know how to get there. Although, we used the GPS and it guide us to our destination. It wasn’t that far as we thought it was going to be. The LA River was fifteen minutes away from school so we weren’t worry about it after all. While we were going to the LA River, I asked alvaro and Adrian if they were excited about participating in the clean up. They said that they were because they will feel accomplish after they will finish cleaning at the LA River. Also, they mentioned that its significant to then because many people don’t realize how important is to have a clean environment. Finally we arrived to the LA River and I saw few people that were going to participate on this cleanup. Then we were lost because we didn’t know where the activity was going to take place, but we just followed the people that were using shirt that said “ the annual 2015 cleanup”. Few minutes later we were heading to the registration area and we were waiting for other classmates to arrived. While we registered there were two ladies in the front and she told us to wear gloves and to carry a bag to put the trash in it. Also, she told us that the event was going to start at nine o’clock. There were five minutes left before the event was about to start and I didn’t see a lot of my classmates. I thought that there were not going to come, but I was wrong because ten minutes later they arrived. In addition, we took a group picture, and then everybody spread out and went on their way to pick up trash.i really like this experience because it was a way to help clean our environment. I had a great time in this event. 


Environmental Protection---LA River Clean up

Hi everyone, my name is Wendy Yang. On last Saturday, April 18, 2015. I follow my English 101 teacher to the event which is clean up the LA River. I think I have seem the river before when I went biking. I never noticed that this is the LA River because it seem no water to me back then. When we get to the river, I saw there are actually many people attended to the event. some of them are elderly, some of them are elementary school students, and majority people are college as me. The organization was passed each us a T-shirt, and a pair of gloves when we turn in the release form.
When i actually step into the "River" I felt shock. I saw a lot of trash hidden with the died plant and between the rock. There are more than half of the river area cover with rocks. For the whole, I did wonder where are the rock from. during the event, the most often trash I saw is snack bag and plastic bag. Some of the plastic bag are mixed with the plan and dust, and I actually need strength to pull them out. Besides plastic bag, I also saw there are many small piece of glass on the side of the river. Even though there are a lot of negative view of environment that I saw from the river, I do see some good thing out of it. next to those rock, there are actually water on the other side. I actually mean clean water, because you really can see through it, and can tell what it is under. I also saw a some birds and ducks that played in the water.
Even thought this is not a easy task, but I do felt worth. Without this event I would never know how many trash had been flow to the river. I still can't imagine that what if those trash all go down to the ocean (which the trash did flow into the ocean), and what impact will affect us. If there are chances, I am glad to attend more events like clean up form the environment.




 

 

Cleanin the L.A. River

       Hello, my name I Cesar Sanpedro. On April 18th I had the opportunity to go and clean up the L.A. River. I have done community service around my city in local parks. But I never got to experience volunteering in a event related in helping out the environment. I would see the small stream of river when I would cross the bridge where all you could see was sement. But being in the event made me realize their was mature down their. I got to see the nice view of it filled with some wild life. But at the same time it was polluted by the thrash that is not picked up and ends up in the river.  The thrash was all the way on top of trees after it is flooded from the rain. I did not expect many people to show up to the event because I was early. But it then to get really busy with many children and students showing up later on. It was pretty cool knowing that their are events like this  in order to help clean up the enviroment clean.

      This event has helped me realize that we can all help the enviroment even if it may seem small. Picking up a small piece of trash may seem small but every little contribution in helping the enviroment makes a big difference.




 LA RIVER CLEAN UP !!!!!!!!!


 



Hello everyone, my names is Vanessa Lopez. On April 18, 2015, my English class attended to one of many FOLAR events has to improve the environment. Attending this event really opened my eyes to see how Angelenos dirty the little nature we have in the city. I did not think it would be as dirty but I was proven wrong because I found a lot of plastic bottle, bags, glass, trash, and even clothes. I was surprise that I found some jeans, and my friend jasmine found a pair of underwear and an onesie. Those are just some stuff we found. After we finished every volunteer gather up all the trash and I was not expecting to have seen so much trash being collected in a small area. After all the trash everyone collected the area we cleaned up look a lot better. It no longer looks like a dumpster. After reading the Jenny Price article and getting informed about the LA River, I realized that not every part of the river is cemented and it was nice seeing one of the ways this article described nature in Los Angeles. Now that I helped cleaned up the river, I consider it as nature because the river at some point looks like a river. I would of never consider it nature if I did not volunteer because the image I have of the LA river is a dry, dirty, cemented, and with little water place. Overall the experience of cleaning up the river was fun, and quite a workout, after trying to get the onesie that was in the bottom of a HUGE ROCK!!

Hi, my name is Jasmine Rivas and  I am currently attending CSULA. On April 18th I was apart of the L.A. river clean up (FOLAR event)! I must say that at first I wasn't sure if I wanted to be apart of the clean up but over all I had a good day. It went great and I was able to bond a bit with some of my classmates. I found a lot of plastic, clothes, food wrappers, and the majority of the trash was stuck between the trees and rocks. The L.A. River was not as I expected. I thought it was going to be a lot worse. Despite the trash their was trees and a lot more than I expected to see. It might not have been much but we still have something left and that's the reason why we should continue to participate in events like this. It was sad to see all the bags of trash, and how it all ends up at our river. I didn't see animals like I thought I would, but I did notice many individuals who were excited to be apart of this and actually care and it made me feel better about myself. I was apart of a good thing, for OUR environment. I must say I am glad I was apart of this and I'm glad that many people came together to help clean the river.

Looking back at the books we have read such as "The Lorax" by Dr.Seuss he wanted us to realize that we are leading our environment to an end if we do not do anything about it and by participating in the LA river clean up we are doing something about helping our environment. After reading the article "13 ways of seeing Nature in LA" by Jenny Price she states how we almost need special glasses to see the LA river healthy and verdant but I saw different. If we contribute to help as we did on Saturday we will see what is left of our river as healthy. We can make a change in our environment.

Let's keep helping our environment.

 Saturday, April 18th 2015, was a day to remember for two reasons. First of all, it was my first time visiting the Los Angeles River, and it was the first time I've seen a river that is mostly surrounded by concrete. When I think of a river I think of flowing water on streams, tall trees, green bushes and lots of river animals. When I arrived at the river at 8:30 I did not see much of this. As I looked down at the dry waterway of the river, I began to see all of the trash that was there, some even stuck in dry bushes and boulders.
About an hour later, the volunteers, including myself, commenced the LA. river cleanup.While picking up trash I realized that there was more stuck in the branches and rocks.Some of this trash was, plastic bags, I picked a shirt and pants, carton, along with other plastic waste. They all seemed  to be everywhere. This made me think about how much trash people just don't properly dispose of. It is not a pretty sight to see, but then I stood there for a second and envisioned of the awesome and beautiful place the L.A. river can be if we just take care of it.
As the cleanup concluded I saw the brighter side of the river.It was a more lively side of the river, from what I could see, I saw lots of ducks and birds. It made me think about all the people who actually take action and do something to help the environment like the FOLAR volunteers.
I understand that the Los Angeles River used to look much different, and because of lack of water and pollution, it has to turned into an unknown place to many people. While some people still appreciate the nature of the river, I believe it can be transformed for the better. It would be great to see the river transformed into a fascinating place, a greener, more lively and intriguing place. It would be a while before this could happen, but until then my goal is to do my part and help clean up the river when I can as well as inform others about what they can do. And that's what I learned that day, that the L.A. river can be all these things but in order for that to happen people must show that they care about the river and are willing to do anything to save and protect it. If we take care of our river and clean up after ourselves, I'm sure the river can be a far more beautiful place to visit