Los Angeles River Clean Up

Hello, 

My name is Tatiana Landaverde. I am part of Prof. Ximena Hernandez's English 101 class at California State University, Los Angeles. This course is part of the PRESTIGE program, which focuses on the environment. My classmates and I join the Friends of Los Angeles river and others organizations to participate in the L.A. river clean-up on May 18, 2013. 

It was my first time participating in this event and I was very excited to being part of this clean-up. One of the reasons is because I am very interested in environmental topics and I have done some clean-up before with other groups. Another reason is because I did not know there is a river at Los Angeles, it was until I started this PRESTIGE classes that I knew about the river, so I really wanted to know this place. 

When I arrived to the Marsh Park, I was very impressed of how the river looks. It was beautiful but I could not believe it was the river because of all the constructions that have been done around it. 

My teammates and I started the clean-up at a part where the river that have dry out and there is trees and grass. We found a huge amount of trash such as plastic bags, plastic cups, rubber cables, aluminum cans and parts of cars. We also found a sign stand that was stuck in a tree branches and another group near to us found a shopping cart. When we finished the clean-up, I saw some people who were fishing and it make feel sad in how we depends on the rivers but we are polluting them and we are causing damage to the species living in the river.

I feel happy that we have done this clean-up. However, we do not only have to go and pick-up the trash, we also have to be aware of not throwing trash at any place that way we are not causing damage to the environment. 

LA River Clean Up

Hello,

My name is Jiaying Yang. I am part of Mrs. Hernandez’s English 101 composition class. On May 18, 2013 many students from Cal State La and other volunteers helped to clean up the LA River. Everyone that went to the LA River Clean Up is trying to make an environmental difference. I will remember this clean-up day forever because we contribute to the river by picking up trash to make it less contaminated to the animals that live around the river and make the river more beautiful. The outside of the river was beautiful, but when my group went in to the river bed, there were many trashes. My group and I picked up many grocery plastics bags, cups, aluminum cans, and aluminum caps. We even found a tire and a cart near the river. I saw other volunteers picking up trash that are big and small. We can change the environment of the river by not throwing trash or littering in the river. Many other people can also contribute to the river and picking up trash with friends or family because it can be fun and afterwards, they can see the change of the river.  

Hey, my name is Karlmina Alconaba. I am one of the students from Mrs. Hernandez's English 101 class. Yesterday, May 18, 2013, our class and a few other organizations came down to the Los Angeles River to help clean it. Before volunteering for the FOLAR clean up, I did not know that the Los Angeles River was as big as it is because all I really see is the part near the Glendale Freeway. At first, I was somewhat hesitant on volunteering for this clean up because I did not know what to expect. When I got to Marsh Park, where the clean up would take place, I was amazed at how beautiful the place would be with water. Cleaning up the LA River, my group and I found a lot of glass, cigarettes, and plastic. We even found shopping carts, but we were too weak to be able to carry them. Being a part of the FOLAR activity of cleaning the Los Angeles River, I realized that even simple things such as cleaning the river could make it look beautiful. I am glad I got to be part of such an amazing opportunity like this. It feels good to me to know that I've helped the Los Angeles River look better and cleaner. I hope more people take time out of their busy schedules to realize that the LA River could look just as amazing as any other river, if we all worked together to help clean it and make it a better place. I had a great experience with the Los Angeles River, and I hope everyone else did. 

Experience at the LA River

Hello, 

 My name Milagros Calzadilla. I am part of Ms. Hernandez's English 101 class. On May 18, 2013 a couple of students and I took part in cleaning up the LA River. As I walked on the river bed I was kind of depressed seeing that most of the water has dried up. Also I found a lot of trash everywhere little and big some of the things I was so surprise I would not imagine that there would be CDs and a car radio and shoes. It was really beautiful to be able to see these trees that looked like they had spider webs on them but it wasn’t it was cotton trees. There were so many that at a point I wanted to sneeze. I was only expecting our classmates to be the only ones cleaning up but I saw that there was other different organizations and family contributing and I thought that was pretty amazing. My group went through these trees and at the top of one of them we found a LADWP Water Sign and Lenni picked me up so I could pull the sign down but it was to hard so we brought other people, it took us a while to get this accomplish but I am very happy to have been able to taken that down I felt that we did a very good job in supporting our team and not giving up. I hope that one day I can do something like this again it was a very fun experience.

The LADWP Water Sign that was stuck on top of that tree above us.

The Cotton tree

Experience at L.A River Clean Up

Hello,

My name is Muycheng Taing, and I am a student in Mrs. Hernandez's English 101 class. Today, many students, volunteers, and I participated in a FOLAR River Clean up Event to help out our community. Since our class emphasizes on our impacts on the environment, we participate in this event to create a connection to what we learned in class and to create some positive impacts to our river. Before taking this class, I did not know that we have a river in Los Angeles, and I feel very excited to be able to visit and clean up the L.A River. At the clean up, a few classmates and I formed a group and we sorted the type of trash we picked and tallied them up. I learned that most of the trash around the river is mostly plastic bags and Styrofoam cups. Of course there were other types of trash such as aluminum can, glass, metal, fabric, and wood, but plastic and Styrofoam was the most abundant. I realized that wind and rain fall can gather our litter and trash into the river and ocean. Just like what I read in Colin Beaven's No Impact Man, our trash really do make its way to the river and ocean and ends up forming a big island of trash. Those plastic and Styrofoam create the most harmful pollution because their chemical makeup harm animals and fishes in the river and ocean. Since our drinking water is from the river water, the pollution can also harm our health. Those trash is the evidence of our littering habit and our negative impacts on the environment especially river and ocean pollution. Not to mention that some of the trash can be recycle and some of them should not be there if we use reusable materials. Therefore, I learned that if we use the reusable cups and bags and stop littering, then we will not see as many Styrofoam and plastic lying around our river. Moreover, we can reduce our negative impacts on our river and our environment by putting the appropriate trash into the appropriate recycle bins or trash cans. After this clean up, I feel that I had made a difference to the environment by reducing the amount of trash at the river, and of course everyone else can make a difference!   

Hello, 

My name is Carlie Lopez. I am part of Ms. Hernandez's English 101 class. On May 18, 2013 a couple of students and I took part in cleaning up the LA River. As I walked on the river bed and into the LA River I felt a bit of anxiety, not knowing what to expect down there; I was amazed to find little much trash. It is a beautiful place that often times get dirty, it was nice to see the other volunteers picking up trash from different organizations.  I took a lot of excitement out of getting the opportunity to be part of something like this. I just hope I can be part of it again someday. Giving back and serving our community showed us how we can change the way things are in our environment.

Shopping Cart Stuck in the Ground

As I was cleaning I picked up a lot of interesting things. As I looked everywhere around my surroundings there was trash everywhere, little and big. I found a two shopping carts that where stuck in a tree and one that was buried to the top in sand. I noticed that there were a lot of plastic bags and water bottles everywhere. All of these things can be recycled, but we all need to contribute to the change. Seeing the trash in the LA River made me realize that not many people care for the environment. After my day cleaning the river, it got me thinking not to litter. So now I'm going to think twice when I don't throw away my trash in its rightful place, the trash can.

         Hey, my name is Michael Estrada and I’m a student from Ms. Hernandezs’ English 101 class. On April 27, 2012 a couple of students and I took part in cleaning up the LA River. Others might have complained about having to attend an event like this but I actually had fun doing something beneficiary to my community. As I walked passed the river bed and into the LA River I felt a bit of anxiety, not knowing what to expect down there; I was amazed to find so much trash in a place where it’s suppose to look clean and beautiful. The LA River looked more like a creek filled with dump rather than a river. But by seeing others contribute into making the LA River look clean and beautiful once again, inspired me to do the same. I took a lot of excitement out of getting the opportunity to be part of something like this. I just hope I can be part of it again someday.