heal the bay

Hello, My name is Mixcoatl Burrola and I am a student at CSULA. For my English 101 class, my teacher Ms. Hernandez took us to Dockweiler beach for an environmental beach clean up. The objective of this event was to clean the beach and record what we picked up. The beach was very dirty with a lot of seaweed that has washed up the shore, but like most beaches there was a lot of trash. My classmates and I picked up a large variety of garbage on the shore. We picked up large amounts of styrofoam, small pieces plastic, plastic wrappers, cigarette butts, and food products. The beach was very dirty and it felt rewarding to clean it up and make a difference in the environment. I don't visit Dockweiler beach often but knowing the beach is just a bit cleaner. I glad our teacher Ms. Hernandez made this service project available to us. I look forward to more service projects in the future. 

Hello, my name is Erika Hernandez and I am currently a freshman at CSULA taking this English 101 class. This is actually a class that I really enjoy and I just had a great memorable experience as well. This past weekend we actually came along with the Heal the Bay project which I found was a great experience and also made me feel better about actually making a change in our world for better. Environmental issues such as pollution is something that is affecting not only the world we live in today but will also affect us in the future if we don’t put a stop to it and take care of our environment. Now, the project we did consisted of my class and I to go to Dockweiler Beach and clean/pick up trash and other objects that may harm our environment if they were to go into the ocean. Littering is something that is really harming our environment and the reason for this is because all the trash being thrown on the floor or anywhere that goes into the drains eventually end up in our ocean where we have all type of animals that will one day all extinct if we don’t protect them from all this. At the beach we found many harmful objects. Objects such as plastic, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, and cans was what we mostly found around the beach. What was most surprisingly to me that the huge number of cigarette butts and plastic found all along the beach. These two things are some of the most dangerous for our sea animals yet it’s sadly what we mostly found. According to some of our other class mates, they also agreed with us that the objects they mostly came along with were plastic and cigarette butts but there were also some that came along with other things around the beach such as shopping carts, diapers, condoms, bottle caps and many other. I have to admit, it was kind of hard to pick up every little piece of paper and trash we found due to the big amount of it but one of the things we did do was to clean as best as we could and leave the beach as clean as we possibly could hoping to actually create change and to make other people understand that pollution is wrong. In my point of view, I can say it was a great experience cleaning up the beach and it’s something I will definitely do again. Gathering up information/ data to help with statistics also made me feel better since its something productive that is being done. 

 

Pick Up the Pieces

My name is Michell Ramirez and I am a first year student at the California State University of Los Angeles. Unit 1 of my English 101 class involved L.A. & The Environment so on January 24th 2016 the entire class went to the beach. Sounds like a time of leisure, but the class as well as other classes went to Dockweiler State Beach to clean it up. We participated with a group known as "Heal The Bay" that provided us with tally sheets, gloves, and trash bags. At first I was reluctant to go because of the simple fact of waking up early but walking on the beach and picking up trash became relaxing. After a while the weather became pretty nice but looking down at the sand and all those little pieces of trash reminded me of how polluted our pretty beaches and earth is. The beach really is a magnificent part of nature in L.A. as told by Jenny Price in her article. My group and I had picked up various amounts of tiny pieces of plastic, straws, and bottle caps. Sure they were tiny pieces but little pieces add up and these pieces could be found in the bellies of the birds the next day. I learned that it does not take much to help the environment because between some students over 1,000 pieces of trash were picked up that fine Sunday morning. 

Hello, my name is Md. Arif Islam and I am the student of California State University Los Angeles.  In this quarter I am taking English 101 with Ms. Hernandez. In English 101, our first topic was about nature and environments. First three weeks we had a lot of dictation about it, such as we have read some articles and books. Additionally we had to do service learning. Last Sunday our class went to Dockweiler  beach in Los Angeles, unfortunately I could not make it because I had to work on Sunday. But I went to Sunta Monica beach on Saturday to do my service. Sunta Monica beach is not dirty as Dockweiler, but I still found a lot of trash by doing about two hours service.  At first I thought that there is no trash because it looked so clean, but when I got closer, I found many cigarette butts, and small pieces of plastics such as straws, spoons, forks, and some other plastics. I also found a died seagull and I felt so sad, because I think we are responsible for that. Everyday we are throwing tons of trash in the ocean and in the river, those are contaminant the water. Today many animals and bards are dying for contamination.   When I was picking up trash, I felt so proud because at lest I was doing something for our environment. Over all I could say it was a rewarding experience for me and in the future I would like to continue do this kind of service.

Heal the Bay

The Hello my name is Robert Wright. I am a freshman at Cal State LA. For my English 101 class, me and my classmates helped pick up trash at Dockweiler beach for the Heal the Bay activity. We worked together in small groups to record the trash we were picking up. There was lots of trash on the shore and scattered around the sand. We found things like cigarette butts, bottle caps, and lots of straws. I felt good knowing i was helping the environment. Now when I see trash I feel very tempted to pick it up. Cleaning up the beach was a great experience.

Clean Beach

Hello, my name is Brian Torres and I am a freshmen at Cal State Los Angles. For my English 101 class my classmates and I went to Dockweiler Beach, a beach located near the Los Angles Airport. We all participate in a beach clean up with the Heal The Bay Foundation. It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The weather was nice and cool. It was a perfect day to help clean the beach and help out the environment. My classmates and I were split into groups and were given cleaning supplies such as trash bags and latex gloves. After we received our supplies we were on the hunt for some trash that was left behind by Angelenos. My group and I found a lot of dangerous trash that can potential harm the environment and the native beach animals too. We found plenty of cigarette butts and plastic bags that can be eaten by seagulls. These items can cause the seagulls to become very sick because of all the chemicals in the cigarette butts or choke on the plastic. We also found a couple of six pack rings that can be harmful to the animals because they are known to get caught inside the rings. This relates to over class because we are studying all the affects humans can make to the environment. For example we are reading No Impact Man by Colin Beavan. Its about a New Yorker who attempts to not make any impact on the environment. He wants to be environmentally free as much as possible by not producing any trash or hurt the environment in anyway. Overall, it was a great experience to be a part of Heal The Bay. To know that my classmates and I made a positive impact on the environment and cleaned up items that can hurt the beach animals that live there. Who knew that Dockweiler Beach was so full of trash. I now see how bad it is to litter and all the negative affects it can have. I will definitely think twice about littering and I would definitely volunteer again with Heal The Bay again.

Heal the Bay

Hello my name is Elizabeth perez, I am current freshmen in Csula. This past weekend my English class went to do volunteer work at dockweiler beach, with Heal the Bay. This was my first visit at this beach location, and in my suprise it was very dirty compared to other beach location I have visited. This made me think of  back to think about what Jenny Price shared about different part of the cities of Los Angeles have better and cleaner nature depending on their social economic stand. I also was able to see the amount of trash people leave behind, we were able to motor the different trash we picked up, and for my group the majority was plastic and straws. One surprising object I found was pieces of balloons and their strings. I never thought about the balloons we let go in the air and where they end up. overall my experience with Heal the Bay was a good one, and I hope I can wake up earlier for next months.

Heal the Bay

Hello, my name is Isael Barrera and I am a Freshman at Cal State LA. My English 101 class this past Sunday, January 24,2016 went on a class field trip to Docweiler Beach. We participated with Heal the Bay to help pick up trash that is left behind on the beach. This was my first time participating with the organization. I really liked feeling like I was making a positive impact on the environment. We picked up a lot of cigarette butts, bottle caps, and pieces of plastic. The most  bizarre item we found was a shopping cart right by one of the fire pits. I was surprised at how much trash was actually left on the beach, it's crazy to think that maybe later on that day all the trash we might have picked up might have just been replaced with new trash that other people left behind before they left. I just hope that we can continue to try and have a positive impact on the environment.

Heal the Bay

Hello my name is Mariella Orellana and this is my second quarter at CSULA. I am currently enrolled in English 101 and on January 24th my class went to dockweiler beach to pick up trash and participate with heal the bay. It being my first time at this beach, I noticed it was empty, not to mention it was a Sunday at 9 am. Also, there was less trash than I imagined there to be. Although we didn't get to fill up our bag completely, we did find a lot of pieces of plastic buried in the sand and tied up in the seaweed. We found over 235 pieces of plastic and over 100 bottle caps and straws. It was sad to realize that even after everyone doing their part and picking up trash there was still a lot more trash that these poor animals will be confusing for food. Overall this activity was really fun and very eye opening. I am glad to have been a part of this because I now know the importance of helping our environment and cleaning up after ourselves and the harm that we can cause if we don't.

Clean Beach

      My name is Jose Martinez and I am a freshmen in CSULA. On January 24, my English 101 class and I participated in the Heal the Bay activity.  The main goal of this activity was to clean the beach. The past few weeks we have been reading and learning about the environment in Los Angeles. The environment is a bit bad here from all the pollution, so we decided to take action of this. Going to the beach to a clean up made me feel a bit like No Impact Man because I was doing something positive for the environment. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it on time to join my classmates on this activity but I was still able to do my part and do some cleaning. Cleaning was fun, the first thing I picked up was a pair of blue sandals. I had an epiphany ,while I was cleaning, about Earth being my only home and that I should really treat it with care because it is everything that I have in my years of living. I'm glad that I was able to clean the beach and take time to enjoy the beach. Hopefully everyone starts to do their part to keep the environment clean.


This is the pair of blue sandals that I found.

Healthy Beach, Happy Me

                                                Healthy Beach, Happy Me

Hi, my name is Miguel Barrios and I'm currently a Freshman attending CSULA. For my English 101 class we had a field trip on January 24 to Dockweiler beach, and our goal was to clean the beach an list the things we picked up. It was a great experience spending a couple of hours of my time reconstructing the environment. We all know that all of the effort my classmates and I brought in to this field trip didn't help to clean the whole beach, but we all know that we all made a difference. Every little help counts to improve a piece of our environment. At first before I arrive to the beach I never thought it was going to be that dirty as I imagine, but once I arrive their I then saw how mistreated the beach was. The beach had a lot of Styrofoam pieces and plastic objects allover the sand and hills. It was a great sensation that I earned from cleaning the beach because I saw some issues that happens everyday at the beach and many animals are in risk in consuming them and getting affected. It was awesome cleaning the beach and protecting some animals and their habitat.

                                     

 

Hello, my name is Gaston Gutierrrez and I am a freshman currently enrolled at Cal State Los Angeles. On January 24, 2016, our class participated in a event called Heal the Bay. The event is a day where people came to volunteer to clean Dockweiler Beach. In our class we have been learning about how our environment is being polluted and the effects it has on our world so this event was a way to help make a change and help the environment. At the beach we were split into groups and worked together to pick up the trash that is washed up on the beach or that is left over from people who left their trash. Surprisingly, their was a lot of trash that was in the sand. People really need to start throwing way their trash, it made me mad how lazy people can be. It also made me think how important it is throwing away your trash can be and helping our environment. The most trash that was found was cigaret buds and plastic straws. The weirdest thing was found by our class was a big rusty pipe and know one knew where it came from. From this event I've learned how much trash is in our ocean and that people need to take care of our environment. It was cool getting together with my classmates and making a difference.

Heal the Bay

Hello, my name is Jesus Lopez I am currently a freshmen attending California State University, Los Angeles.  For my English 101 class my classmates  and I gathered up at Dockweiler Beach to join an activity known as Heal the Bay. We all tried to collect as much trash possible. This was a fascinating activity as it related to the previous readings we were been doing in class. The first thing I noticed when  I got there was all the trash that was by the shore and all the trash that was hidden under the sand. While we were trash hunting the weirdest thing I saw was a shopping cart stuck by the shoreline.  As we continued with our activity I collected so many cigarette butts, so many foam cups, candy wrappers, and even napkins.  This activity made a good impact into my life as it made me realize how important it is to toss all our trash into the trash cans and not be lazy and throw anywhere. It also felt good  in the long run not only because we helped cleaned the beach but because we made a great impact in the environment. 

Hello, my name is Rosa Sanchez. I am a freshman at CSULA and currently enrolled in English 101. On Sunday, January 24 my class and I participated for the Heal The Bay event. We were in groups and we all had to pick up the trash and count how much of each item we found. Within our groups we had to walk around the beach and picked up trash. The amount of trash we found was a lot and much of it was very surprising. My group found a lot of cigarette butts and lighters. What we kept finding over and over again were a lot of straws and bottle caps. This relates to our class because we have been learning about what happens to all the water that is in the L.A river. It all drains into the oceans and this weekend we saw the effects on that by seeing all the trash that was near the beach. I learned that by us cleaning the beach we can make a difference because fish eat plastic thinking it's something else and that kills them. Seeing all the trash In the beach was very concerning, but we can all make a difference by not littering so that less trash won't end up in the ocean. 

Healing the Bay; What a Productive Day !

DOCKWEILER BEACH CLEAN UP

January 24th, 2016

My name is Alexa Zubia and I currently attend the California State University of Los Angeles. I am enrolled in an English 101 class that centers our curriculum around the environment; it's past, present, and overall welfare. Our class took the opportunity this past Sunday to align ourselves with other classes like ourselves and the Heal the Bay organization to go and help clean up the Dockweiler beach. The Dockweiler State Beach is a beach in Los Angeles, California, with a 3.75 mile long shoreline with a hang gliding training center and, oh yeah, a waste treatment center located right next to it that directly dumps all of our processed wastes into the ocean. Needless to say, the damage to the environment here isn't much of a secret compared to other beaches along the coast. While we were here, it was also a part of our job to document the types of trash we picked up, and let me tell you; the results were shocking. With a group of 7 people scouring the sand and attempting to keep an eye on the large, crashing waves threatening to take us prisoner in its chilly, early morning current, we had found over 275 pieces of plastic of varying sizes, about 99 different straws, and hundreds of other surprising, disgusting, and shocking waste. After filling our large trash bag with the evidence of the lack of care our beaches receive, we discovered that all the other groups data was similar and came to the same conclusion; the beaches, and our communities, deserve better. This experience was truly eye-opening to the ways we've been treating our Earth, and it was the first domino in a predicted long set up of continuous support and volunteer work for our environment. 

Dockweiler beach

Hello, my name is Ramon Herman. I attend Cal State Los Angeles as a freshman. For my English 101 class my professor and part of my class gathered at Dockweiler Beach on January 24, 2016 to help participate with the Heal The Bay Foundation. The class and professors met up at 9:00 A.M. and immediately we were handed gloves , trash bags, and a card in which we tally what we find on the beach and started picking up trash . We were paired in groups of 5 or so and walked up and down the beach trying to find any trash on the sand . We found straws, candy wrappers, cigarette butts, pieces of stryofoam and much more. The experience was great because we got an opportunity to help clean the beach  and make it nice. Our readings in class relate to what we did cleaning the beach because we are learning about how beautiful the beaches are and that its very important to keep them clean as possible. Seeing how dirty the beach was made me realize that we need to start caring more about the beautiful beaches that we have and maintain them as clan as possible so we can keep our beaches looking as best as possible

Dockweiler beach

a picture of some of the trash that we picked up

Beach Clean Up

Hello, my name is Damian Ruiz and currently enrolled in Winter Quarter 2016 English 101.  I am a freshman at CSULA majoring in mechanical engineering.  On January 24, 2016, the majority of my class and I came together to participate in an event known as Heal the Bay at Dockweiler Beach.  As I joined a group to clean up the beach, I met some pretty chill people.  It was pretty cool picking up trash with people who want to make an impact to the world.  As we picked up trash on the shore, I noticed the amount of cigarette butts and straws that were found was insane.  I never seen that many cigarette butts and straws in a small portion of the area.  Meanwhile putting up the trash on the shore, the water would come close to the shore and take trash back to the ocean.  After seeing this is a major problem for the animals living in the ocean, I figure how people are lazy to walk up to the trashcan and toss their trash.  As I passed by a trashcan, I notice a lot of trash near the trashcan on the ground which showed me that some people are just lazy to pick it up and put it where it belongs.  Well it felt pretty great to make a small impact to the environment even though it was on a Sunday morning which was the worse part of the event.  This activity impact my life because I wanted to major in mechanical engineering to go in the field of automotive or aerospace and I feel like I can also make an impact to the environment not only by picking up trash, but going in the field of conserving energy and building machines to help the environment.

This is me just chilling at the beach after picking up trash on the shore.(seagull squad photobombing me)

The beautiful ocean view.

Done for the day and just waiting to go home.

Docweiler beach

Hello, my name is Alexis Juarez. I go to Cal State Los Angeles. For my English clads my professor and the entire class gathered at Docweiler Beach on January 24, 2016 to help in participating with the Heal The Bay Foundation. The day consisted on walking at the beach and picking up every piece of trash that was on the sand. We picked up burned wood, straws, bottle cups, plastic cups, and so much more.when we arrived at the beach I noticed that it was going to take a while because the beach was very dirty. The experience was amazing because I got the chance to try and improve the beauty of our beach. It only took two hours to make the beach look a lot more beautiful, two hours of helping the environment. Our day at the beach with the Heal The Bay Foundation relates to our class readings because we are learning about how we take something beautiful like nature and turn it into something ugly. The day at the beach was realy helpful because it made me open my eyes and see that we are the ones destroying the environment and if we do not do something about it then we will be living in a waste land. What I gained from this experience is that we need to help the environment my recycling more and not throwing away trash just anywhere because it ends up in the ocean which causes nature to look like a huge trash can. My lesson was learned if we keep throwing away things then it will end up in the ocean and sea life will start to die out, so it is up to us to help keep nature in its natural beauty.   

Dockweiler Beach Clean-Up

Hi, my name is Melanie Hernandez. I'm a freshman at CSULA and am enrolled in English 101. With my English class, I went to Dockweiler Beach on January 25th. To start off, it was nice to go to the beach again. It's the end of January, so it was a little cold but it was nice to see the ocean and waves again, because I haven't gone since summer. But, when I arrived to the beach, I noticed quite a bit of trash hidden in the sand. The things that were most common were plastic wrappers, bottle caps, and cigarette butts. The weirdest thing I saw was a Forever 21 bag, which was wet so the ocean must have brought it to the shore, so who knows how long that bag must've been floating around in the ocean? All these little pieces of trash may seem insignificant, but they take decades to decompose. I found some pieces of styrofoam cups, which unfortunately takes 500 years (or even never) to decompose. Same goes for plastic. Luckily, we were able to pick up a few scraps making at least a small change to the ocean's cleanliness. Lately I've been learning about the environment and things we can to do make a change so this activity tied in nicely with the topics we're discussing in class. I had never heard of Dockweiler Beach, but for my first time being there it seemed very nice. Often times we can take advantage of things like this, thinking if we throw a little piece of trash on the ground it won't make any difference. Chances are many many other people are thinking the same thing and in result leave a big impact of littering on the planet.  Overall I liked the experience because I was able to interact with people from class and go to the beach. I feel thankful to have had the chance to do something for the greater good of the environment, and hope I have the chance to participate in more things like this.

Cleaning makes a Difference

Hello, my name is Jennifer Arias, I am a Freshman at CSULA and I am currently enrolled in Winter Quarter English 101. On January 24th, 2016, my fellow classmates and myself participated in an activity known as Heal the Bay at Dockweiler Beach. Not only was it a fun activity to participate in but it was an eye opener that helped me realize that it is important to take care of our environment as well as our beaches. This activity relates to our class as well as our readings because we are learning about the environment and how to make the world a better place to live in. We are learning how there is air pollution due to the fact of a high use of vehicles, and how our rivers, lakes, oceans, etc, become contaminated because so much trash is being thrown in them which also puts a creatures life at risk. I learned the reason as to why many fish and other creatures die because of the trash that goes into the ocean such as plastic, bottle caps, and even wood. I learned that cleaning does make a difference, not only does it save an innocent creature's life but it helps us see the beauty of nature, and who doesn't like to go for a swim on a nice sunny day at a clean beach? Lend a hand and help keep the environment clean!

Heal the Bay

 

Hello, my name is Maria Barrera and I am currently enrolled in Winter Quarter English 101. I am currently a freshman attending CSULA. On January 24, 2016 we gathered at Dockweiler Beach to participate with Heal the Bay to help keep our beach clean. This experience was life changing because it made me aware of how much effect our trash can have on our beaches. The day consisted of cleaning up trash that was left behind by people on the beach. What I notice when I got to Dockweiler Beach was the amount of trash that was lying around. It was mostly plastic, straws, and bottle caps. Also, the water looked dirty in comparison to other beaches I have gone too. It’s a beautiful beach, especially because it has a lot of fire pits to do bonfires, you can also get a closer look at the airplanes departing from LAX, and parking is close. So, cleaning up the beach will just improve its beauty.  This activity relates to our class readings because we are learning about our environment, so what better way of learning this than at the beach.  Also, it just proved that we have to take care of our environment, because if we don’t we will have consequences throughout time. This activity was very helpful to me because it helped me get a better understanding of the readings we read about the environment during class, and also about the effect that will happen if we don’t take care of it. What I gain from this experience is that is important to keep our beaches clean because if we don’t clean up after ourselves the trash will end up in the ocean and the marine animals will eat it, and then it will affect us because we will no longer be able to eat seafood. So, this is just one example because this can also happen to other nature beauties like lakes, rivers etc… The life lesson I learned is that it’s important that we take care of our environment.

Dockweiler Beach clean up

Hi, my name is Alondra Estrella and I am currently a freshman at Cal State Los Angeles, which I am in the English Class 101. I participated to help clean up the Dockweiler Beach on the 24th of January 2016. On the day my friends and I arrived at the beach, we noticed there was small pieces of trash and the waves were big. We helped clean up as much as could because we did not want other animals to die or get injured because someone else was too selfish to clean up after themselves. For an hour, we found about 230 pieces of plastic and of items. What stood out to me the most was when I found many straws and several cigarette butts. I also found a dead bird which made me a little upset because it died of probably eating a piece of trash. I learned that all the small pieces of trash do add up and that we should clean up after ourselves because it really does make a difference. We also had fun especially when the man in the background photo bombed our picture.