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
 



Hello my name is Vanesa Arenas and on April 18th i went with my English 101 class to the L.A River Clean up. It was a fun and interesting. At first i was not as excited because it was indoor activity. Overall the clean up went great and i made new friends. What i learned from this experience is that helping our community can also make one feel better about themselves. I saw many people cleaning up the river and it just made me realize that some people care about the environment and actually want to do something to help it become better. The LA river was not as disgusting as i imagined it. it was actually pretty clean. Maybe it seemed clean because many people were volunteers. Me and my group found many interesting thing. Plastic bags were everywhere in the la river. I would love to volunteer again next year or on any event that involves helping the earth. Last year i volunteered at Heal the bay. It was fun but the LA river clean up was more interesting and i had fun.



FOLAR Clean up


                          L.A River can be a DREAM!

 


 

Hello everyone my name is Kareli Acevedo and I am currently attending CSULA. I attended the FOLAR event on April 18, 2015. It was an assignment I had to do for my English class the alternative was to read and answer questions if we didn’t go to clean the Los Angeles River. At first I didn’t want to attend the event because I had to take three buses to get there. I have never been to the L. A river myself and I live close by. I was not aware that we were allow to go to the river I thought you had to get permission in order to go. I went to the section in Fletcher and Ripple. I was able to literally go inside the river to pick up trash. I have seen the river but only over the bridges never up close or in a different area. I have never been part of this type of services. I have volunteer to help in other things in the community but not to clean a river. I liked how many people got together just to clean our source of fresh water, the L.A River.

I was proud to be a part of the FOLAR event after reading the article "13 ways of nature in L.A" by Jenny Price. I can say I took what she stated a little bit personal. She stated that many people do not consider the L.A River as part of nature, but that is because they do not go and look for nature in the river. Most people see the concrete river from the bridges but never really go and experience the whole 51 mile river. I was very fortunate to help clean the river.  As I was cleaning I was able to see cotton trees, birds, flower, and the flow of the water running down the rocks.  Not only was it a great experience giving back to the community I was able to meet new people and have an exciting time.
 
 

 

lovely river

Hello everyone. My name is Elizabeth Delgado and I volunteered with my English professor Ximena Hernandez. It was more of a "need to go " event. I never expected to enjoy cleaning the river as I did on April 18th, 2015. At the beginning I felt weird because I though I was going to be alone but I was wrong. I met a new friend. We then went on to clean the river. We came across this sign that said danger and found it pretty interesting. It was a warning. No it wasn't! As we got farther and farther from the site we started seeing more and more trees. I had never seen a river with so many tree. All the rivers I've seen are pure concrete and this one wasn't. What surprised me the most was that it had water. I was all excited because I had never seen something like this. It was time to meet up with our professor. I encourage people to take a trip to the L.A River. It was an awesome experience!

An Entirely New River





Hi, my name is Andy Aparicio. On the morning of April 18th, 2015, it was nearly required to attend an environmentally positive event, that being many students and adults alike cleaning up the Los Angeles River. It was certainly a strange assignment and though I have a love for nature, helping the environment was not one of my major focuses in my life. ESPECIALLY given the fact that Los Angeles is one of the most nature-deprived cities in the United States. The truth is, I never attended the LA River other than crossing it in one of it's bridges. But I heard not so pleasant things about it. My first impression was that it was completely concrete and perhaps man-made. I was reluctant to go, but I braved on. I was disappointed to find the river next to FoLAR's site was dry and non impressive. My partner and I decided to move forward to see if there was any water to find, but not without trying to pull some trash out. We went it deep in the shrubs to find wrappers, bags etc., and kept moving forward. Eventually, we reached the water, which wasn't too far away. This is where things started to look different to me. Suddenly, there were ducks floating by. The river was shallow but alive; I became intrigued. Further on, we pushed and the nature of the river grew. Like a mini exhibit, the river was a beautiful mix between the old design of nature and the man-made concrete banks that controlled it. The sound of traffic, though not efficient, gave the river a twist in what it should be seen as. The suburban hills crowding the river added to this blend, and started to make me think. "Why can't there be a river that contains the best of both worlds?" I know many would argue this, claiming a river should be 100% natural. But Los Angeles isn't like the City of Boulder where it looks like people live in the trees. LA is sort of the opposite. We don't build over nature, nature builds over us, and this river is a great example. The only issue that remains is the environmental status of the river. Why isn't the city doing something about this? Why isn't the river good enough to bathe in? When will the city in general provide concern over what could be a popular landmark? Instead, we're left with what many consider not a river at all. The best we can do is help clean it, one year at a time.

Monday, April 20, 2015

LA River Clean-Up

Hi my name is Manuela Benavides. On Saturday April 18, 2015 my English 101 class and I attended the L.A. River clean up. When my professor first mentioned this event to us the first thing that came to my mind was "There is a river in L.A.?" I had no idea LA had a river till now. Who knew that the L.A. river was so near to were I live. When I first seen the river I was sad to see how some place so wonderful could be filled with so many trash. As I started to pick up trash I saw half of the river was dry and was filled with many types of trash. There I found plastic trash bags, bottles, a gym bag, carpets, a piece of a car bumper, chip wrappers and etc.. It sad to see how all this trash ends up in the river. I also expected to see more animals living in the river but there really wasn't besides ducks and some type of small birds, that  have never seen before. but other than that I had such a great experience is helping out in keeping our river a cleaner place. Even though the water isn't so clean it still had a beautiful view. the river was filled with trees which reminded me of the trees in a swamp. but what I notice was how some trees were wrapped with plastic bag that were really stuck on them. Now that I know were the river is I cant wait to take my family to see how the river looks. I was excited to see how much trash was picked up at the end and how it made a big difference in the appearance of the river. This made me realize how good it feels to help out our environment.



  

LA River Clean Up

Hello my name is Ricardo Toro, this past weekend my class and I cleaned up LA River. At first I wasn't all to pumped up about going to la river to clean up. For one I was sore and didn't want to step a food always from my bed. I decided to go to this trip because why not give back to mother nature? Mother nature has provided us with so many thing, like fruits and vegetables. So why not clean her up. While I was cleaning up LA river i found numerous of things such as medical marijuana capsules, Cloths, Tends, credit cards, even condoms. It was a very tiring experience but it was all worth it. Seeing a lot of people come together and help each other out to help clean up LA river was a nice vibe to have. Free snacks were provided which made the trip a lot more worth it because I had no breakfast, I diffidently see myself going to another event to help clean up mother nature in the near future.    

Los Angeles River Clean-up

Hello, I am Stephanie Cortes currently taking English 101 Section 19. On April 18, 2015, my English class and I went on a field trip to participate in the clean-up of the Los Angeles River. Though it seems a little irrelevant as to why would an English class participate in this activity, this trips actually ties the theme to our class. For the past few weeks, my class has been studying and reading a series of articles and books about the environment. As a person who loves learning about the environment and contributing to it, I was entirely ecstatic about this experience. I decided to bring my boyfriend along to get him to understand why littering is so hazardous because I always catch him endlessly and carelessly littering. After a few hours of being in the hot and dry weather, it was immensely shocking at all of the litter we collected and saw in under 2 hours. I was disgustingly repulsed and just aggravated with what I had witnessed. There were large amount of trash bags and plastic bags deeply entangled in nearly all of the plants and trees, bottles, plastic cups/bottles, lighters, cigarette buds and empty packs, and empty bags of chips. On a more shocking note, there were a few interesting things that we didn't expect to find there such as a large portion of a brick wall, a golf ball, a large car mat, a pool cleaner pole, a blanket, and a large hose. Furthermore, this was a rewarding and educational experience that doesn't only apply to the "books" but is also a life-long experience. I'm definitely looking forward to not only participating in future clean-up events, but as well as picking up litter wherever I go because it truly makes an impact to the environment.

L.A River Clean Up

Hello my name is Anthony Castellano, and this past Saturday was truly an eye opening experience. It is crazy to know how badly we treat our only water resource. Cleaning it however did bring me a little joy knowing I'm making a difference. However once a year is probably not enough if we are polluting it every day afterward. All the years that I have been in L.A I didn't think to visit places where we can enjoy nature. It was probably because I didn't think nature really existed besides parks and maybe beaches. I'm curious to know what else I've missed about L.A. Anyways going back to the river clean up, I'm glad I went it made me re think about nature in L.A
Me and the hommie ric

The L.A. River Clean-up

Hello my name is Estefany Navarrete and on Saturday April 18th I attended the Los Angeles River Cleanup as part of an assignment for my English 101 class. When I got to the river I was shocked to see that from up close it actually did look like a river. I would always pass by there when I'm on the freeway but it would look more like a sewer than a river. I brought my dad, two little sisters, and my best friend to the cleanup because they were curious and they wanted to see the river up close. It was just nice to have my family and best friend there helping me and giving back to the community. Overall being part of the group that gathered up to clean the river was a huge honor because I got to do something, not just for the community but for the whole planet. It feels so good to be able to do something for the environment, we take so much from mother nature that it was time to give back. This has been a learning experience, I learned that most of the trash that was found in the river was plastic. It surprised me the amount of plastic that was up in the trees and in the water, it literally felt like every five minutes I was  picking up a plastic bag or bottle, it was crazy. I realized that plastic is evil because it can harm the animals that live in the river and they can easily die. There was other types materials that we found near the river like; fishing polls, torn clothing, suit cases etc... Seeing bags and bags of trash pile up made me realize how much we hurt the environment by being careless and not picking up after ourselves. I can relate to this to the Onceler because he is a selfish and greedy person, he just takes and takes and releases bad chemicals to the environment that is killing the nature and homes of the animals. I had so much fun this was such a great experience and I had fun. I would really like to this again.

L.A. River Clean-Up

Hi my name is Jenny Ngo. On Saturday April 18, 2015, I had the chance to volunteer with some of my classmates in my English 101 class. At first I thought this would be a long and boring event, but it turns out to be very interesting! Throughout the day, I found some interesting trash that wondered into the L.A. River. I saw some people picking up blankets, pillows, shopping carts, duffel bags, carpets and of course empty snacks bag and bottles. Those are things I never thought I would find at the river. I was expecting clear water, some wildlife animals like birds, fishes, and maybe some squirrels or something. Although almost none of wildlife lives there, I did get a chance to see some interesting birds. Birds I have never seen before! It makes me wonder how do they live at the dirty L.A. River. I am really glad I got a chance to participate at this event because cleaning up the river actually made me feel like we took a step into cleaning our planet. Therefore, cleaning our planet leads to clean water, and clean water leads to a healthy and clean environment. I'm hoping that next year I'll remember to participate and make more wonderful changes for the planet!

L.A River Experience

Hi my name is Samuel Mendoza. On Saturday April 18th, I went on a trip to the L.A River as part as my assignment for my English 101 class with Mrs. Ximena. I liked the activity I was in for many reasons. The main reason I enjoyed attending this trip was because I actually felt good doing something for my community. Cleaning the Los Angeles River was interesting after finding many different types of trash on the trees and under the rocks. One of the things that interesting was when I picked out a bright orange sign that said, "DANGER." I began to wonder about how this sign from perhaps construction workers got to this river. Another little trash I found and made me think deeply was finding a little noodle soup seasoning bag. I started to think more thoroughly on how all these pieces of trash got to this nice river with ducks and beautiful birds around it. I also saw what other people had got like rugs, market karts, and many others. I wasn't only disappointed on my  community but on myself too because I am part of the mess that ends up in the river by just throwing a little piece of receipt papers on the floor or anything at all. After picking up the trash I realized that it's not that difficult to just throw away trash in a trash can after using it. I realized that throwing trash on the floor can damage the natural habitats and nature itself. I've always known this but this action really opened up my eyes and see the mess we are doing to nature. The book I am reading for my class, No Impact Man, is all about not making a negative impact to the world but instead do positive actions like cleaning beaches, not using cars, not using energy, and abusing other natural resources. I am glad I can relate to this story by saying that I did something good, not only for the community but for the world, although it was a little bit. On top of cleaning the river, I got to meet people, learned about other actions I can do to help the community, and simply got burned by the sun. I had a great experience and I'm looking forward in going out and making a POSITIVE IMPACT on Earth.

L.A. River Clean Up

Hi, my name is Thien Doan. On April 18, 2015 I had the opportunity to attend an event by FoLAR to clean up the LA River. Before attended this event, I was not interested in protecting the environment however I changed my opinion after the event. The experience was not a pleasant once; I noticed, for the first time in my life, I saw nature existed in the middle of L.A., but it has been destroyed by humans. I also had some contribution in destroying the nature in L.A. As I walked around picking up trash, I noticed that all the trash that been dumped inside the river can be recycle and reuse. I was curious about how the river looked therefore I tried to get as close to the river as possible, and what I saw was devastated. After the river been channelize 1935 to prevent flood, the water level has decreased significantly. The water color turned to a greenish color, and the smell was dreadful. I found nature was forgiven and strong as it still lives with humans. For example, I found a couple of ducks swim and walk on the shore of the river, and trees are still growing on one side of the river. My best accomplishment was hauled a shopping cart from Target with Luis, my partner, up the hill. These type of events are meaningful because it helps to spread the awareness about the environment to others. I will participate again next year as I find myself doing something meaningful to the city and to the environment.

L.A. River Clean Up

Hello, my name is Nghi(Vicky) Quach. On Saturday, April 18, 2015 I had the honor to attend the "L.A. River" with my English 101 classmates. On that morning, I had a great experience with my English 101 class. To be honest, this is my first time that I went to the L.A. River. Before I arrived there, I was really excited to see how the river looks like. However,  the things that I saw there was not as wonderful as I thought it would be. I saw a lot of tree fell down to the ground with a lot of plastic bags, bag of chips, some papers, and some can too. I think the place could be very pretty, but all the trash around the river made the place look dirty. In addition, there was trash in the river as well. I felt really bad for some ducks that are living in the river because the river is their home, but it is covered with trash in it. Some ducks might think those trash as food and eat it. It can make them feel sick. On the side walks, there were a lot of glasses and it was really dangerous to walk there. On the other hand, I think that the Annual Friends of the LA River (FOLAR) is a great event that we all can help to clean up the river and to encourage more visitors to come out to the river. Looking at how people were working hard together to clean up the river, I felt really happy, exciting, and appreciated because these people are good people that volunteered to help save not just the river, but also the environment. Now that the river is cleaner than before and the ducks can live happily, people can ride their bikes and run around the river without seeing any trash. They can now see a beautiful river and breath in fresh air. If there is another program like this next year, I would join and would like to help out this meaningful program again.

LA River Clean-up

Hello my name is Luis Gonzalez and on April 18, 2015 my English 101 and I were part of an organization to help clean up the LA River. I arrived at the place around 8:40 and there were several groups around that area. I really had no clue if anyone from those groups were in my class because barely knew anyone from my class. Then I noticed someone familiar from my class and it was Thien. I didn't know him that well, but at least I had someone in my group to work with. I had no idea what I was expected to find cleaning up the river. The first 10 minutes of cleaning my friend found a full set of clothes and I have found a full car rim which I wasn't expecting to find. Thien and I decided to see the river from up close, we saw a couple of duck swimming in the river and when we got closer to the water all i can smell was saltwater mixed with chemicals which was unpleasant. Another hour of searching my friend and I found a Target shopping which was a pain to carry up the diagonal wall. Overall I had a great experience cleaning up the LA River and I actually plan to go there next year.