For the Ducks

My first experience with the LA river was during a school trip that involved numerous failed pH tests and an astoundingly high number of cigarette butts. Though not the most pleasant description, I enjoyed the experience and looked forward to going again. The fact that this time I was expecting not only to clean up the LA river, but to collect trash to later use for art, was a two-fold source of interest for me. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend at available times and instead visited the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve.

I have been there a few times with my cousins––we make a habit of offering accented documentary commentary on the birds (primarily ducks) as they pass. They frequently walk ever so slightly faster as you approach in a facade of calm before taking off in a flustered panic. This time I went with my sister, the two of us equipped with gloves and a respective trash bag. As we maneuvered between the bushes to find more trash, we noticed traffic cones half submerged in water and a cluster of plastic bags plastered along the side of the creak. The ducks would sometimes approach only to quickly turn around and waddle across the dirt path to the larger lake.

I was pleasantly surprised to find little to no trash around the actual lake, a spot I used to eat sandwiches at with my cousins while our grandmother casually dropped nature facts. Perhaps it is wishful thinking, but I like to believe the cleaner lake area is due to the greater number of people congregating there (for example, a bird-watching group passed by with binoculars and near-identical hats). It seems there is environmental awareness among at least some Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve patrons. This hypothesis is strengthened by the greater grouping of trash in less frequented areas without clear paths. There is hope for LA yet! Of course, the unexpectedly high number of food wrappers makes you wonder how much.

While admittedly not the expansive LA river, the Reserve still welcomes its share of visitors and like many (if not most) wildlife spots in Los Angeles, is in need of attention and care. I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to the cleanup effort and to specifically do so with my sister while an older gentleman talked about his favorite birds and offered us his binoculars should we like to join his birdwatching group (we did).

Rivers and Riches

            This past Saturday I had the opportunity to do my first L.A. River cleanup and got to fully understand the saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure". As I entered the dirt road to find parking for the event I saw a huge line of volunteers of all ages eager to see change in the environment. The sun may have been weighing heavy on us all, but that didn't break anyone's spirit. The motivation to clean one of the staples of our beloved city was palpable in the air through the atmosphere created by volunteers. It was a very productive group of people who had bags filled to brim with including a little girl who was barely able to peak over her bag standing up. Aside from the devotion to the project, I could sense that it felt like a community project through little things such as strangers chatting as they were working, parents guiding their children through the rocks, and even a live musical performance in the heart of the river which was my favorite part. I felt as if I was part of this beautifully established community of nature protectors with my contribution of trash. The trash I found for the most part was quite average, but then I found this piece of concrete that has a checkered pattern on it which had me confused and intrigued so I took it home. Now, originally I meant it to be a part of my cool trash, but it didn't make the cut for our class project and I got to take it home and ever since then I have been wondering what the deal was behind this piece of trash. Everything there had a story and a worth that can be seen by the collector. There are so many great ways that a simple piece of trash can be something beautiful on display for all to see- as exemplified through our class art project. The experience overall was pretty fun and although I didn't see the conventional roaring rapids of a river I was still able to see an overflowing amount of kindness and consideration for what we know as the L.A. River.

Art and the LA River

Saturday, April 21, 2018

My class and I, alongside my professor, her husband, and her cute little dog, went to the FOLAR clean up. And if you do not have any idea on what FOLAR stands for, it means "Friends of the Los Angeles River." If you want me to be honest, our original motive for attending this clean up was to meet the honors college objective number 1, which is to basically be civically engaged in our community. However, by the end of this clean up everyone realized that this was a huge contribution to our local community because the amount of trash in this river, is probably enough trash to fill up 10 huge dumpsters or more!!!! Lets be honest here, that's an insane amount of trash....

Over the course of this clean- up, professor Jenny assigned to us one task. This task was while picking up the trash, we set aside interesting pieces that we can use for an art project. ( Well, would it really be considered trash then?) I guess some of my classmates took it literal when she said interesting because one student brought back a dead fish. HOW DISGUSTING!!!?? Besides this disturbing item there was simple things like old chips backs, and marbles. Quite frankly, I couldn't find anything that was deemed cool or good. How sad right ? HAHAHA! At least I managed to collect one full plastic bag of trash. This bag included but was not limited to chip bags, bow ties, a duffle bag, a blanket, and even a glass frame of some sort.

Overall, this was an amazing experience, but yes I do mind doing it again, only because it was super hot and yucky. This was definitely a different experience for me because the type of community service I take part in, involves sitting in fancy chairs in the Senate or House building in D.C, advocating for the youth in my community.  I did learn that, art is everywhere around you. Like literally everywhere and can be seen in the most rarest forms. And you wont view it as art until you change your perception and definition of what art really is!

L.A. River Clean-Up

This was both my very first river clean-up and my first time stepping foot in the L.A. River as opposed to traveling alongside it. Tons of people were there, so I felt like that helped a lot in the environmental difference that we were trying to make. Personally, I had a lot of fun with the river clean-up because not only was I performing a good civic service in my community, but I was also looking for trash that could be recycled as art or put together to make a work of art.
From this clean-up, I learned that the L.A. River holds more trash than I previously assumed and that a lot of homeless people live along the river or leave their past belongings in the river. I also came to understand the "river smell" that everyone was talking about because by the time that I had gotten home after the clean-up, I could smell it all over my clothes. Lastly, I learned that trash in the L.A. River will almost always be there, and even though we have these days where the community will reach out in a joined effort to remove that trash, it will most likely be replenished within the next few days.

A City of Its Own

FoLAR Clean-Up 2018

When I first heard about the objective of having to go clean the LA River, I could say that I was definitely excited to find trash that I could eventually use to create a sculpture of some sort- making what was once classified as garbage, now art. Looking back, however, when I learned about this activity, I never thought about cleaning the LA River as a way to further help preserve the environment we Angelenos live in, instead, I simply thought of this as a way to explore my artistic creativity.

The overall experience of going to clean the LA River was emotionally rewarding such that it felt good to put in my time and effort to do my part and help clean a significant area in the city. Secondly, I think what made it even more rewarding is that the next day was Earth Day- so even though I could only help by cleaning a few bags worth of trash, I feel like I did my part to help clean LA and the Earth as a whole.

On a different note, when we went down into the basin to begin cleaning the river, I expected to find plastic bottles, plastic bags and other trash of that sort, yet, while walking along the river bank, I came across all sorts of tattered clothing which is what inspired me to build a person out of the trash. Some of the clothes we found were simple pants or shirts but we also found a wedding dress, which I interpreted as the river to serve as a home for its own personal community- in which to an extent is true. The items of clothing were all representative of different people. Unlike my interpretation of the trash that I found, there are actual people that live in the river basin and I think that is a significant observation I made as the streets and the 48 miles for which LA river runs are home to the underprivileged communities in Los Angeles.

I'm grateful to have gone to participate in this event, and if possible, I'd like to continue going to help clan this city but also learn more about the culture that lies within.

Art and the LA River

The theme of this class is art, especially in how it pertains to Los Angeles. Prior to arriving at the clean up, I mainly thought about the LA River in the context of art as the project that we would be doing. We were told to pick up cool pieces of trash because we were going to make an art piece out of it. But once I arrived at the Bowtie Parcel, I was a little bit early, so I went into the River Truck / Museum (I forget what it was called). Basically, it was a little exhibit in an RV-type vehicle that told the history of the Los Angeles River and the plans for renovation. It was in this exhibit that I saw other ways that the river and FOLAR can be seen as art.

Firstly, the founding of FOLAR was sparked by performance art. The exhibit said that the three founders of FOLAR trespassed by cutting a hole in a chain-link fence and declared the river open to the public, and this performance art piece lead to the creation of FOLAR. In this way, art is a part of the history of FOLAR which determines the future of the river.

Secondly, one of the founders, Lewis MacAdams, is an artist himself through poetry. He sees the river restoration as a long-term art project, calling it "40 Year Art Work." This made me see the restoration and the river in new ways as well. Looking at the pictures of the future LA River, I see extravagant designs, futuristic architecture, playgrounds and bikepaths, beautiful green space, etc. The design plans themselves are like artwork, but once implemented, they will make the river its own piece of art. Cleaning and revitlizaing it will make the Los Angeles River into "Los Angeles art."

By going to the clean up and "greening up" the river as a class, we are artists in the "40 Year Art Work." We are the artists contributing to the masterpiece that will be the LA River.

From Kayaking to Cleaning

As someone who has kayaked and cleaned the L.A. River before it always shocks me the amount of trash (mainly plastic) that collect along the riverbed.  Since the "ban" on plastic bags there are less shopping bags in the river but the amount of plastic from food and other products remains consistent.  One reason I believe the river is home to so much trash is that very few L.A. natives are aware of the state of the river and that it actually functions like a river.  While not all of the trash comes from the city a large portion of the trash comes from street drainage that leads to the river and ultimately the ocean.  While we see "No Dumping" signs every day if you don't see where the trash goes it is merely a suggestion instead of a rule to most people.

Some changes that I have seen in the past years include the number of homeless encampments along the river.  I started doing the clean up when I was in elementary school nearly ten years ago.  Although I have not gone every year I have seen an increase in the number of homeless encampments in the river and it is a sad reminder of the poverty in L.A.  I've also seen positive changes at the river.  Since my family started doing the cleanup I have seen more wildlife and vegetation in the river and when we kayaked down sections of the river a few years ago I noticed that many fish and birds have returned to the river.  Another change, and perhaps the best one, I have seen is the amount of people that attend the river clean up.  FOLAR has done an amazing job of organizing the clean up and providing materials to all the participants.  I have at least five FOLAR t-shirts and can remember years when I was able to take two since the attendance was low.  This year the clean up was packed and it was nice to see so many people from different companies and backgrounds come together and do something good for the community.

To sum it all up the FOLAR river clean up is always a good opportunity to see a new side of L.A. and give back to the community.  The river clean up really opens your eyes to magnitude and diversity of the city and is a great way to get involved without traveling too far.

A New River Experience

I commonly referred to the LA River as the LA trickle, not realizing the ecological and cultural significance the river had and has for my community, and what I could learn from a trash cleanup of the LA River. Unfortunately, I didn't get to stay at FOLAR very long, but I certainly enjoyed the time I did and learned quite a bit.

When I got there, it was already starting to heat up, and despite remembering to bring my sunglasses, I regretted not bringing my hat along. I joined up with my class, and after receiving gloves and bags, we set out to rid the river of trash, thereby cleaning it. Because of our class' special art focus, we also had a separate, smaller trash bag, this one used for "cool trash" that we found––interesting pieces of trash that could be used for our final piece of group artwork. More than just finding a binary distinction between trash and cool trash, even the trash I put in the bag to throw away was interesting. Every piece of trash offers a glimpse into someone's life: the handle of a pink stroller, decomposing under a bunch of leaves; the head of a flashlight (this one did go to the cool trash pile, however); a torn dress that might once have been beautiful. It allows us to experience what it's like to have this quasi-voyeuristic, amateurish anthropological gaze that sees into alternative realities that we simply cannot experience. There are a few things that the average human being simply cannot comprehend: absolute nothingness, as in, what the universe was like before it came into existence in any manner that you so choose to believe, and someone else's reality. Someone may be able to come close, imagining something clear extending on forever but there is no light and there is nothing; absolutely nothing at all. Or, empathy, trying to be collectively humanistic as possible and join into one reality, so that two people feel the same thing. But look into someone's eyes, and try to imagine how they're saying you. Or ask someone to look at a color that you're looking, but think to yourself "they see this color differently than I do." No matter how close you are to them, you will feel some form of alienation and realization that you cannot truly experience what someone else's reality is like. Finding people's trash is finding a way to circumvent the existential barrier between you and someone else's reality.

I also really loved learning firsthand about the actual ecology and green that the LA River is, and how, despite being encased in a concrete block, it's quite beautiful, introspective trash thinking was really my main takeaway. That was my experience and my evolution of thought as I picked up new, old, dirty, clean, and everything in between of trash.

L.A. River

FOLAR Cleanup 2017

Though I was not excited to wake up at 8am for the cleanup, I was actually excited to see the L.A. River. I classify myself as the "person" who drives over the L.A. River without acknowledging its existence. However, it surprised me that there was barely any water where we were. While I was considering wearing really long boots in the river just for the fun of it, I was actually glad I didn't in the 80-90 degree weather. What surprised me the most, however, was the amount of plastic stuck in between bushes and rocks, so not only did we have to pick up the trash, but we had to find it. Overall, it was fun being able to do civic engagement with the class, and I was able to make a few connections between L.A. art and the L.A. River.

First of all, despite all of the trash washed up in the river, it was still a beautiful piece of nature. Just like the L.A. river, I believe L.A. art is unique in its own way and each piece of art tells different stories about Los Angeles. I believe the L.A. river tells the story of a "lost" city, just like how the river goes unnoticed by strangers. Whether driving through traffic or walking through the city, the L.A. River is always present, but no one pays attention to recognize it. In a similar sense, so many tourists can walk around L.A. and look at street art murals, graffiti art, or museums without recognizing its historical or political significance. In a way, the meaning of Los Angeles is lost or misinterpreted when people just simple "walk by," without asking questions. This experience at the L.A. River has taught me to always ask questions and be curious throughout my everyday activity. I have to constantly ask myself, "Why am I doing what I'm doing?" "How do my actions affect those around me?" "Why did this turn out the way it did?" I can't be the person who simply drives past the L.A. River anymore. It is important for all of us to take a step back and look at the bigger picture; set our eyes on something more important than what's in front of us. We're in the greatest lost city in the world, but it's our job to make our own connections to the city and find out why it's so important to us uniquely.

Second of all, it felt refreshing to recognize the goodness of civic engagement. The civic engagement reading by Adam Davis talked about the meaning of community service being lost through pride, selfishness, or not really "talking" about community service because it proves the hypocrisy of equality in America. However, this too can be related to the L.A. River because the meaning of community service is misinterpreted. Overall, the FOLAR project made me recognize the goodness of civic engagement and giving back to the community that has given so much to me. I was able to see the L.A. River not only as a piece of nature that needs to be preserved and protected, but also as a piece of art.

On the LA River

The Los Angeles River is a main, central part of Los Angeles, yet it is easily forgotten from people's minds. It is named a "ghost river" due to its diminishing presence in society. Sadly to say, I am one of those ignorant individuals who have not heard about the River until now. I had no idea that there was a river in Los Angeles and had only found out about it in class this year. The FOLAR event was an eye-opening occurrence that made me discover that the L.A. River exists and that there are people who still care for our environment. The River is home to many wildlife creatures as well as vegetation. Yet, nobody thinks about the ducks or the birds when they carelessly litter. They don't think how their trash will pollute the river, which will lead to the deaths of many innocent animals along with the flora. There are some who do not know that whatever they throw away will end up in the river, but there are others who continue to litter even though they know that there are consequences as a result of their actions. However, there are people who care about the River. They want to protect it and preserve its greenery. FOLAR is made up of these individuals and the cleanup is their attempt to make the river free from hazards. It is a selfless event; a symbol of dedication for environmental protection.

The event itself was satisfying to me since I felt good to do something for the community. I had helped out by picking up trash, whether it is in the form of cans, forks, or even clothes. Honestly, I was astonished to see some of the items that were present because they were so unique. I even remember a shopping cart that was cast away in the dirt! Nevertheless, I tried my best to acquire as much trash as I can since I was on a time limit. I had to leave early because I had another appointment later on. I collected a whole bag's worth and had felt proud of myself because of my effort. Through the event, I learned more on the L.A River itself since I was there in person to actually check it out. It was more massive than I thought it was and more trashed than I had imagined. I didn't actually think that there were so much trash laying around, but there was. It was a bit disconcerting to me since the reality didn't fit into my perceived vision. I recycle, reuse, and reduce as much as I can, so I don't see that much trash often. Even though there were a lot of garbage, the sight of multiple volunteers helping out along with the patches of clean spots were more than enough to compensate for the bad feelings I got when I saw the overwhelming amount of trash. There are people who adore the earth as well as the environment so not all hope is lost. Although there are some who are the cause of the pollution, there are many more who try to cure it.

Two Rivers

I remember at the beginning of the semester, we talked about going on this field trip to clean up the Los Angeles river. To be honest, I thought it was somewhat ridiculous cleaning the Los Angeles river considering I never really saw it as a river in a first place. I sort of just saw it as a basin that collects our sewage which is true to some degree. However, as we went on with the semester, I became more and more interested in the relationship between the river and Los Angeles considering how we are able to connect the river to so many themes in our classroom. And as the semester went on, we talked about the river so much; however, we never got the chance to look at it up close.

Soon enough, I found myself at the FOLAR cleanup surrounded by my classmates and other enthusiastic volunteers. After getting a couple trash bags, me and my classmates found our way into the basin of the river. The first thing I noticed going in were the trees in the basin! I just assumed it was all water and we would be picking up trash from there so it was a huge surprise. The second thing I noticed was the assortment of trash. I also had the notion that there were only plastic bottles and grocery bags in the river. I was in awe that I couldn't find either plastic bottles nor grocery bags; however, I found an entire shopping cart embedded in the ground. Some other oddities I saw people find was a pan, a children's play set, and even a fire extinguisher! Finally, the most important thing I found in this trip was the duplicitous nature of the river. I noticed that on one end, it was dry and barren with trash ridden all around. On the other side though, I saw the life that the river brought to the animals that inhabited it. To me, it seemed as though there were two rivers. One that brought light and one that brought darkness. Either way however, the people who were volunteering at the event brought the best out of humanity because I noticed how friendly everyone was! People were playing music and there was nothing but smiles despite the weather. I would definitely say this is such a memorable experience and would definitely want to come back again!! (*Hint Hint FOLAR Clean Up 2019 w/ Prof. Hick's best class!!!!* ) 

Ghost River Full of Life

Isn’t it crazy how the LA River is so huge, yet forgotten about? You would think that everyone in LA is aware of its presence; it’s near the freeways and the City of Angels is full of them. However, I am guilty in being oblivious to its location, so much so that I got lost while driving to the FOLAR River Clean-Up. I ended up passing the river and going to Echo Park! I did not expect to find it where it was (almost hidden). Neither had I heard of the river prior to this course nor did I know that it was featured in various movies, which saddens me.

Going into this event on Saturday, I was prepared to see lots of trash near the river and was ready to collect as much of it as possible because that was what our engagement service was all about. Once there, I realized that the LA River was like a ghost; overlooked and taken for granted. I right away started to collect trash, which was easy to find in some parts yet more challenging in others. Scavenging for “special” trash was almost like Easter egg hunting. I was surprised by the great variety of trash that could be spotted, including headphones, clothing, food wrappers, Styrofoam, and even books. 

Contributing to FOLAR was a selfless act, and I really enjoyed seeing other people, young and old, of different schools and locations coming together for a common cause. It is important for community members to look after nature and keep rivers clean. This is what drove me to go back and collect a second bag of trash, despite the heat and dirt everywhere. Although the LA River may appear to be like a ghost river, it definitely is not. It is still full of life, wildlife, plants, ducks, birds, water, etc. I was able to record some ducks and birds in the water, which was such a pretty view unfortunately disrupted by the potentially harmful trash surrounding these innocent creatures. The experience was both eye-opening and inspirational. I will continue to do my part by picking up trash wherever it is I see it. I am glad that FOLAR is contributing to our environment, and I remain hopeful that this river will continue to be looked after because I am confident that there are still good people out there.