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.