FOLAR Clean Up

FOLAR


On April 30th, we cleaned up the LA River at Steelhead Park with the FOLAR (Friends of the LA River ) team. It was great to see all of my students there--and thankfully, Diana finally found us. The day was warm, but not oppressively hot, and at first I wasn't sure what to think. From where we were on the high, concrete verge, I couldn't even see the river, but people were heading down the steep slope with bags in hand. The FOLAR folks shared some information about the river, including its' length and that they hope to clean it up enough to bring the Steelhead trout back (hence the name of the park).
My students headed out and I waited for late arrivals, handing out plastic bags and wishing I could join in. Finally, I made it down. The river floor was soft sand and hard to walk on, but once I got down there I could see why we needed to clean it up: plastic, plastic everywhere, and none of it good for the river or the ocean the river eventually leads to. I thought about our unit on trash in the ocean and the Algalita talk we attended, and here was the evidence before my eyes: plastic bags, wrappers, bottlecaps, a dish drainer, all melded and welded into the plants growing in the river bottom. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen such a great advertisement for banning plastic bags; they were everywhere, and when I tried to pull them out they shredded. I quickly realized that we would not be able to clean the river, but I hoped it would at least be cleaner, that there would be less plastic for the birds and fish and turtles to mistake for food.
My students were great! Gavi found a bone and a dead lizard (which freaked everyone else out, I think), and Gabby was rolling down the highway with helpers. Markisse, Vanessa, and Esmeralda brought back a really gross couch cushion, and towards the end Gabby, Gavi, Nayeli, Veronica, and Diana brought back a shopping cart (one of four found that day!). Sitting in the shade by the water coolers, we talked about the experience. I was so happy that my students got to see a little bit of what we had been discussing in class, and I hoped that this event would help them realize that we can make a difference, by not throwing trash on the ground in the first place, and by cleaning up after people who do. The entire experience impressed me so much that I am writing an essay about it, and I want to extend my thanks to all of my students and to the wonderful people at FOLAR. In the end, as I headed out with my husband for some more cleaning, he told me "I think plastic might be human's worst invention", and looking at all the bags still stuck in the trees, all the bits we hadn't been able to clean, I had to agree. Still, it felt good to try to make the best of a bad situation.