Curing the Bay!!

Hi my name is Alfonso Ramirez. My English 101 class had to attend Heal the Bay at Dockweiler Beach for a day. At first I was not really interested in participating but once I was done, I left with a different perspective of the beach. I never knew that the trash on the ocean and beaches were mistaken as food by animals. Cleaning the beach made me realize how much animals are in jeopardy. Most of the trash my partners and I found were simple stuff that could have been thrown away. I found a lot of cigarette buds, napkins, and bottle caps. I thought beaches were non smoking zones but yet I found a lot of cigarette buds! These items can easily be put into trash cans and be avoided by animals. The trash cans along the beach were all full and people just keep piling them instead of getting a new bag to throw the trash. There were other trash items such as diapers, boxes of alcohol and sodas, and a full pizza box. These items should not be on the beach at all. People are lazy, do not care about the environment, and do not realize the harm they are putting on animals. The most shocking thing I found was a ditch that was full of garbage. Just trash and trash piled together. It was a disgusting and disturbing view. I couldn't believe that people could live like that. Eventually the trash would end up in the ocean and animals would confuse trash for food. Animals have been found dead because of hazardous waste inside their stomachs. Plastic caps look edible for animals but they cannot tell the difference if it is food or not. Cleaning the beach was a life changing experience. I use to be one those people who would litter trash and wouldn't car. Now I am cautious and keep the animals in my mind. On my next trip to the beach if i see some trash on the floor, I'm not going to ignore but instead pick it up. I know picking up a little bit of trash isn't a lot but it is something. And something matters!

Heal The Bay!

Heal the Bay was such a great experience. I never knew how much trash could actually end up on the beach. There was a lot of trash that was stuck in the bushes and scrubs along the side of the road. A lot of the trash we picked up were cigarette buds and styrofoam pieces. All of the trash there were things that could have easily been put in a bin and avoided ending up on the floor. Most of the trash at Dockweiler was there because people kept piling and over flowing trash bins that eventually caused the trash to fall out. I found a plastic bottle that was trapped in a bush and realized that if a heavy storm were to hit, it would most likely end up in the ocean like a lot of the trash near the shore. We shouldn't even be drinking from plastic bottles because of the BPA poisoning it contains. I learned that most of the trash that ends up in the ocean, animals can confuse as food. There have been many cases were animals die of plastic poisoning because their digestive systems are not made to break down plastic. Plastic bottles are not only bad for our health, but also the health of marine animals. By making sure I properly disposed of the plastic bottle, I knew I was doing my part in saving a marine animal. It makes me realize and raise awareness that there are still many other beaches that have the same issue, not just the one we cleaned. I'm very glad I got to be a part of Heal the Bay! Now next time I go to the ANY beach, I won't just be getting in the water, I'll help clean it!

Laziness...is Fatal

Laziness…is Fatal

Hello everyone, my name is Antony Ghobrial and I am part of the English 101 course at Cal State La. As a class, we all went to Dockweiler Beach to clean it from many things like beer caps, glass bottles, cigarette butts, and many more miscellaneous items. I was astonished by how many cigarette butts there were considering the beach is a no smoking environment. There were chip bags and paper plates that covered up everything. I found a lot of things that should not have been there to begin with. There are many young children at the beach on a daily basis. If there are broken glass bottles then a fun experience at the beach could end up in the hospital. Animals are like little children, they do not understand what is right from wrong. If a seal finds a plastic bag, who is going to tell it that that is not a jelly fish? No one will, the seal will eat it and die. People do not usually think in the future. They mostly think about the here and now. If a common person sees that the trash can is too far away, they many just throw it on the floor due to their laziness. The reason why we cleaned the beach was very simple. We attempted to clean the amount of garbage found all over the beach so that more trash can end up in a trash bin and not in the ocean. I learned that when I am at the beach and I see trash, even if it is not mine, I should still pick it up because that tiny amount of effort can and more than likely will save an animal's life.

Waking up early on Sunday morning to go help clean a beach on one of my days off, considering having a long night the night before, it felt kind of skeptical to me. But once my ride picked me up from my house to go to the beach, I had a different perspective of the day. Just as i thought, I had a good time at the beach, on top of getting the feeling that you did something good for your community. Getting to my experience cleaning the beach, me and the group that i was cleaning up with found a significant amount of pollution on the beach. We found a metal rod just laying in the sand. We also found a large amount of plastic wrappers, which was one categories that consisted of most of the waste. I actually found a piece of bamboo and it made me think if it had drifted all the way over here from Japan. Other groups that were helping clean up the beach found some pretty bizarre pieces of waste. One group actually found a really sharp knife in the sand, where someone could of hurt themselves with. Another group found a tampon, which i thought was pretty funny. At the end of the day, my group had collectively gathered 4 bags filled with trash. At the end of our "cleaning session," my group gathered around a bon fire pit and hung out for a bit before we headed home. I'm sorry that i cannot provide any pictures but I'm pretty sure a member that was in my group will post some of this pictures that we took. But overall, I had a great experience and knowing that I contributed in making this world a better place makes me feel good about myself. I hope that everyone that went out and helped out Heal the Bay clean up the beach continue to do good gracious as such and for those who could not make it, I hope you can contribute in anyway to our environment. :D

Heal The Bay

I was able to participate in the Heal The Bay to clean the beach. It felt great to help out and pick up the trash that people don't throw away because I knew I was doing a good thing. I was able to pick up a shoe, many plastic bottles, and a blanket that was in the sand. I had a great time at the beach and I would go again to help and clean up.

Heal the Bay: Dockweiler Beach Clean Up

On Sunday, September 27th, 2011, from 9:00am until 12noon, I headed down to our school beach on a mission to clear the sand and water of harmful and unsightly pollution. Our purpose while attending Heal the Bay: Dockweiler Beach Clean Up, was a beach cleanup in which we removed trash and recyclables from our California State University, Los Angeles beach at Dockweiler. Coastal and beach cleanup is extremely important and one of the largest volunteer events in the world. As many might ask, “why are beach clean ups so important”? California's coast and waterways collect trash and debris from places all over. This trash, if not removed, can be harmful and even fatal to all manners of marine wildlife, can damage our state's economy, and can even become a human health hazard. Coastal cleanup is a great way for us students and families to join together, take care of our fragile marine environment, show community support for our shared natural resources, learn about the impacts of marine debris and how we can prevent them, and most importantly to have fun!

I was able to make a difference by helping preserve and clean our Cal State LA, Dockweiler beach. We try to keep it clean because a clean beach helps to make our environment a much cleaner and healthier place to be. I felt proud after seeing the difference, how the beach looked after the cleanup. When we first got there, there were trash bags, bottles, chip bags, wrappers, as well as gross things such as condoms. Trash, even though this beach is considered to be one of the cleanest beaches within Los Angeles, still after being cleaned, still had trash and recyclables spread everywhere. But, walking through the foggy beach weather, after finishing, all I could see was sand, even more sand, and the beautiful beach. The way in which this experience connected to larger themes discussed in our class would contain themes such as restoring and issues concerning our environment. Also, this could somewhat tie into the theme of the American dream and as to what exactly you appreciate America to be. The trash and waste I found at Dockweiler is essentially detrimental and dangerous, not only to fish but also marine wildlife everywhere. As we noticed, as I found a somewhat big Styrofoam ice chest and glass bottles, these objects can and will eventually break down and be very dangerous for thousands and thousands of not only fish, but as well as other marine life it comes into contact with.Everyone went home with bright smiles on their faces knowing that they did something for their environment. We gathered all our debris and recorded the number of pieces collected. Other trash items included food packaging, cigarettes, plastics, and so on. It was surprising to see that beaches are polluted by such trash.

This experience opened my eyes to what’s happening around me. We are so preoccupied with unnecessary things – don’t forget that there’s a world out there that needs attention. It needs our help. We were the ones that brought bad changes to the environment, but we are also the hope for a better and cleaner world. The Earth is the only inhabitable planet. The future lies in our hands. As we work together to make a difference, this is the best gift we can give to Mother Earth, who has sustained us and nurtured us for a long time. In order to change and better society, we must all do our own part!

Today cleaning the beach overall was a great experience. There was a lot of trash on the beach something we found were just crazy. For example a sofa cushion in the rocks, and a metal pipe in the sand.I was amazed on how much trash there was and even with a squad of like 100 people cleaning. I was disgusted on how many cigarettes butts and tips i picked up, if they were to keep something out from the beach it should be smoking. Overall it was fun and had a great time picking up trash,we didn't manage to clean it all up,However we made a great impact on the environment. We have to keep our beaches clean.