Los Angeles River Cleanup

Los Angeles River Cleanup

Hi, my name is David and I am currently taking ENGL101 with Professor Hernandez. I participated in the Los Angeles River Cleanup organized by FOLAR on April 23, 2016. Before arriving to the event, I thought I was going to the wrong direction because at one point, my GPS gave me an odd direction. When I arrived at the event, there were many cars behind me entering the parking lot. I had a few friends who were participating in this event as well, however, we didn't plan a meet up nor did we contacted each other. I followed few of the volunteers to the bridge area where all the other volunteers were at. 

There were so many people there and I didn't see any familiar faces.   I was standing there alone waiting for the event to start, however, a couple of my classmates showed up then we all got together as a group and worked together. As we headed down to the where the trees were, we started to find pieces of trash everywhere. There were also a lot of papers stuck onto the trees and it was difficult to get out. At first, I thought they were being tied around to hold on to the trees but then they were actually trash. As we were picking up trash along the way, I found a lot of odd items; like CD's, sweaters, glass, etc. 

I normally would just sleep in on a Saturday morning, however after I participated in the L.A. River Cleanup, I felt like I had done something good to my community. It was nice seeing many other people helping out as well like there were families who also brought their younger children with them. There were also a lot of elderly people helping out as well. A lot of people do not know that the L.A. River existed nor did they even know where it was located. After volunteering, not only was I only help cleaning up the river, but also enjoying the time at the river. Although we are in a drought, I am glad to see that is an active river still flowing. I would like to attend one of these river cleanups again in the future. 

L.A River Cleanup

L.A River cleanup

Hello, my name is nelson Hernandez, attending the L.A. River cleanup I learned that people's trash or anything they throw away from a trashcan affects others, like animals. This is because while manny, me, angel, and aseph were walking along the river picking up trash, we found two places where there were dead crabs. I was walking along the river hoping to find fishes but on that long walk, I did not saw any of them. Also, a river without animals is like is not a river, the only animals that I saw on the river were some ducks and birds.

I had a good experience because I got to see the river and seeing how families and other schools volunteered to clean up the river. It is really important to teach the little kids that throwing away trash is not good and after going to the L.A. River I saw a lot of kids excited picking up trash.

Hey there I am Angel Maldonado from CSULA and in my English 101 class with professor Hernandez we attend the LA river. When I got there I thought I was in the wrong places since it was a trail of dirty and I was expecting the river to look clean, but once I got closer I saw that it was dirty and filled with trash. Our objective for our class was to clean up the LA river and we got together with FoLAR and help out with the cleaning. I was impress on how many people went to the LA river to clean and help out. The thing that caught my eye more was how parents were taking their kids to the LA river to be a part of the FoLAR move. The parents were teaching their kids in cleaning up the LA river can be beneficial for them because later in the future they will have a cleaner river and will teaches them to not trash the river. My experience was great because i got the chance to meet new people that are also willing to make a change in the community by cleaning up the river. ii got the chance to talk to the people that there being a part of the cleanup and they will tell me that they want to better LA by stop trashing it. In my experience wasn't really expecting to see a lot of trash in the LA river but in the end many people put in the work and clean up that there were so many bags of trash at the top of the river so people can collect them and take them to the trucks. I got to see people struggling to take out two shopping carts that were in the river. I found a steal metal sheet that was all rusted in the river and I took it to where all the trash bags were. I saw was surprise that I saw ducks in the river since its cover in trash and me and my friends found a dead crab in the water as well. All in all, my experience was great I had a good time cleaning up the LA river.

L.A. River Clean Up

Hello my name is Paloma Tirado, a first year student at Cal state LA; currently I am taking Englis 101 with professor Hernandez. On Saturday 23, 2016, I attended an activity that consited on cleaning the LA River. At first I was not too excited to attend this activity because it was Saturday morning, but I wanted to see what this activity that professor Hernandez talked about in class. When I aarived at the place of the clean up I was impressed to see how many people were willing to participate in the cleaning of the LA River. Seeing all tose people therehappy to clen the river actually helped me to be more motivated to be there and to help clean the river. This clean up was a great way to relate, and have a better understanding of the readings we were doing in class.

                                        

Attending the LA River clean upwas a good experience for me because it helped me see that many people do not care, or care so littleabout the environment. While cleaning up the river me and my pertners found so many different stuff like car parts, shopping carts, clothes, etc. This clean up relates to the book we were reading in class called The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, because it shows that people do not care about the environment and only about money. The clean up helped me see that the planet offers us a lot of beautiful things but we do not take the chance to take care of them; people only care of having more and more power. Helping to clean the LA River was a good way to reflect on what we are doing to the world and to see that it is not too late to change the way we are living.

                                        

Hello my name is William De La Rosa, I am currently taking Ms. Hernandez for English 101. I have  to be honest I wasn't too excited about waking up on a Saturday to clean up the river, but let me tell you it was a really great experience being there with hundreds of people who wanted to make a difference in the community. I for one am glad I got to clean up the river. I didn't know many people but I got to meet many new and cool people there. Knowing that I made a difference in the community makes me feel great. This beautiful world offers me so many resources and what does it ask for in return. Nothing really except to help keep clean. Seeing all the trash that was thrown in the floor, trees, and river wasn't so cool but picking it up and making it clean was very cool. Participating in the FOLAR was a great first time experience, next year will also be a great year because you will definitely see me there again making a difference in the world little by little.

 

L.A. River Clean Up

Hi my name is Elizabeth Cisneros and I am a freshmen at Csula. My major is currently Psychology and I am planning on becoming a Clinical Psychologist in the future. The reason I am so interested in Psychology is because I have always been intrigued by the human mind. Over the years though I have come to know many people with issues of the mind, like depression, bipolar disorder, and other common mental health problems. I've seen first-hand the severity of these illnesses and it has given me this urge to help these people get through their problems, in some cases through medication and in others just therapy.

Recently I participated in a cleanup of the LA River. This is the largest body of water inside the LA coutny lines, and has been greatly contaminated with pollution and trash. We proceeded to clean up this river as a class. This activity was directly related to the classic Dr. Suess book we read in class, called, The Lorax. In this book the cutting down of trees harmed the wildlife around them, and the pollution from a massive factory contaminated the water of nearby streams and lakes, wiping out the fish population. The same thing has been happening to the LA River but only on a smaller,  less iminent way.