Heal the Bay clean up

My name is Walter Carrera, and I was one of the many who took place in this fantastic Heal the Bay activity. In this activity many students from Cal State LA went to Dockweiler beach to clean it from all the trash, including me. When I first arrived at the beach I was excited to be there but in my mind I did not think we were going to do very much work because I had never thought that the beach would be really dirty. I was disappointed when I arrived because I saw that the beach really was filthy and damaged from all the trash left there. The students were given gloves and a plastic bag to pick up the pieces of trash on the sand and a note card to keep track of what we picked up most. So my group and I set off to pick up trash and it was surprisingly fun to me to walk around in the sand picking up trash with my friends. Two of the most common found items were cigarette tips and butts, and Styrofoam. Out of everything I found at the beach, the most interesting item I found was a giant metal rod that I am guessing is used for fishing. It was an awesome experience to go and give back to the community by cleaning our beach. Hopefully many other people grow the desire to do the same and keep our California beaches the best in the world.

Saving our World

Hello my name is Rodolfo Mendez, I am from Cal. State Los Angeles and participated in the heal the bay at Dockweiler State Beach. This event was a good way to finally get a chance to go out doors, smell the fresh air and just stare out in to the ocean, just enjoying nature. Aside from that we were also contributing to our mother nature, it was really disgusting seeing lots of trash not only on the beach but also on the hills a couple of yards from the water. Things such as condoms, cigarette buds, and beer bottles were lying around and slowly making their way to the ocean shore. As one of my friends stated in an earlier blog, we turned it into a friendly competition to see who could collect more trash, that way we wouldnt easily get bored. In about 2 hours we each had a huge black bag full of trash. I feel we greatly contributed to the environment, although it wasnt a drastic change, we made it cleaner and safer. It felt really good helping out, and at the end of the day we all went home as winners.

I am Edgardo Gonzalez and i participated in the Heal the Bay event at Dockweiler Beach. I didn't expect to be much help in cleaning up because i thought that the beaches were going to be clean already. I was surprised to see so much trash not just on the beach but on the streets above the beach near the streets. You can find a lot of bizarre things that do not belong any where near a beach like cigaret buds, condoms, bottles, and a lot more filth. A lot of the trash that is thrown and left on the beach is a danger to animals. Some animals may eat the trash thinking it is food and die, especially if it is plastic because plastic doesn't digest. I felt good helping clean up the beach and made it fun. My friends and I had a competition to see who can pick up the most trash and fill up the trash bags the fastest. I didn't think of this event as a chore but as a chance to help the environment and make it safer for all of us.

Beach CleanUp

Hello, this is Andy Martinez. A while back I went to a beach clean up at Dockweiler Beach. It was the earliest i have woke up to do anything since the beginning of school, but anyways it was a very interesting experience. I wasn't expecting the beach to be as dirty as I saw it. There was alot of styrofoam pieces laying around and cigarettes especially on the side close to where people parked. I never really realized how dirty and irresponsible some people can be. I also saw lots of candy wrappers. As I continued my adventure my group and I came across an area where we found Vodka bottle and a Patron bottle and in the surrounding area condoms, these people really got it going. It was very awkward we looked at each other got the bottles and left back where we came from. It was an interesting experience that I think was worth me getting up earlier than ever, for this school year.

making a change

hey guys, my name is leti and i am a student of CSULA. in my english 101 class, i was told to do an environmental project, which was to go anywhere and pick up trash. when i heard this, at first i didn't want to do it. after seeing the presentation by a person from the heal the bay, something changed my mind about the project. so one day i was walking to the park by my old elementary and saw so much trash. i was shocked to see that. so the next day i when to the park with a trash bag and some gloves to pick that mess. to my surprise, i found some things that can not only hurt the environment but also the children who go to that park. in the photo from left to right i found: plastic bags, plastic chip bags, Styrofoam cups, cigarettes, syringes, lemons, and a tequila bottle. what type of people would leave these things? at least i cleaned up and tried to make a change. hopefully the people who saw me pick up the trash would try to do the same. so to people out there reading this, try to make a change that can save the environment as well as the children. peace and love.. <3

Heal The Bay

Hi everyone. My name is Azzam Meeralam. I'm a student at Cal. State L.A. In ENG 101 class, we were invited to "Heal the Bay" event. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to participate. I decided to do something else. I went to Del Norte Park to pick up some trash. When I got there, the park was almost empty. I picked up many different kinds of trash, plastics, bags and tree branches. While I was walking around the park, I noticed one big piece of tree branch, so I picked it up and throw it in the garbage container. Also, I picked up some plastics like water bottles and bags.



The cleaning process took about five minutes and I was able to pick up four to five items off the ground. If I stayed longer, I would have picked up more, but because of the sunset I had to stop.
I believe that it is our responsibility to keep our parks and beaches clean and beautiful. And that can be achieved by picking up our trash before we leave these places. It is easy! take a bag with you whenever you go to the beach or to the park.

Heal the Bay

This is Martin Sandoval from Prof. Holladay's english class. At first I kind of didn't want to come because it was a far drive for me and early in the morning. But I did end up going and there I met up with my friends and we teamed up in a big group. We walked alongside the shoreline and found a lot of trash. We found a lot of candy wrappers and balloons. At first I didn't think we were going to find enough trash to fill up our bags but we did. Our bags filled up within the first fifteen minutes. One of the most interesting things that we found was a huge blanket that was buried under the sand. It took about eight of us just to get it out of the ground because someone had tried to bury it as deep as they could in the sand. I wasn't surprised that when we pulled out the blanket it was huge. In the end I was glad that I went to go help out clean the beach and I would definitely do it again.

Heal The Bay

My name is Jack Cuateco. I am a student at Cal State LA and I along with all my classmates participated on Heal The Bay at Dockweiler beach. When we got there, from far the beach looked clean to me. How wrong I was to find out that most of the trash was buried. the person in charge had announced that there was a competition to find the most strangest thing and my friends and I with the help of some strong girls dug out a queen size blanket. The blanket was barely sticking out enough to be spotted and was almost dug in three feet deep. next to the blanket was a jimmy (used condom). HUUMM we don't have to be rocket scientist to do the math that the night before that day, those persons had a wild night. But the least they can do is pick up after their selves. I never thought that cleaning the beach would be so fun.

Hello, I am Mauricio Sandoval from Professor Holladay's class

When i arrived on the beach i came to the conclusion that we were going to be here a while. So as i picked up my bag with 3 of my friends and i. We headed toward the bonfire pits and found nothing of trash. So we headed toward the water side and walked all the way north unill we got to this peer looking place. Where it had a skinning bridge to the rocks that lay on the other side. We found many peices of card board and alot of plastic snack bags such as a corn nut bag and a hot cheeto bag. We had some pretty funny expiriences on the way past the peer, one being us chasing a lot of sitting seagals and then panicing over the fact that they might of deficated on us. Once we had decided that the beach had little to no trash left, we headed towards the hill that seperated the highway and the beach. As we were there the first thing we found, which i decided was the most interesting item that we found. was a used condom. Now we didnt just pick it up so easily, we had one guy put on gloves and use one gloves to hold a bag to pick up the condom. i thought that was pretty funny. But in the end i think we had a good time there and it was a pleasure to help out.

Cleaning The Beach

This was my first time cleaning up a beach. Before we started cleaning up the teacher told us what to pick up and what not to pick up, that if we found something dangerous to tell them. After that mini orientation we got into groups and started cleaning up. While cleaning up the beach I found a wide variety of trash including cigarettes, pieces of plastic, and other small garbage. Most of that probably washed up from the ocean, there were also things left behind by people at the beach such as toy shovels, blankets, and balloons. I was told that balloons sometimes kill animals since they tend to eat them.Even though there wasn't as much garbage, it is still surprising to me that there is so much plastic among other rubbish being left on the beaches. We should maintain our beaches clean since those places, are places to relax, have fun, and just enjoy. After the clean up was over i felt great because i help save the life of some animal.

Cleaning up the beach was a first time experience in my part, as I had started I expected to find the typical trash around the area. A lot of plastic and cigarette buds were among the common. It was an extraordinary experience waking up early morning and heading straight to cleaning up the beach. It was very fun to be quite honest picking up trash and actually doing something for the community. As much of the work was done for a good cause, I hope to be able to participate in future clean-ups with the same people as it tends to be more fun to help out with good people. To this day walking around the streets and finding trash similar to the beach made me see how easily people can not care about the outside world. It doesn't hurt picking up trash here and there, and its only much better being sanitary around your very neighborhood. So far this was a well done job for everyone and I will be doing my part from time to time to help clean-up the streets and beach that we call home.

Heal the Bay

Heal the Bay

Upon arrival I was not looking forward to cleaning the beach. I was tired, grumpy and all I wanted to do was crawl back to my bed and go to sleep. While walking down to the beach I didn’t notice that much trash, but once we arrived to the beach we were finding trash everywhere. We found trash from plastic bottles to medicinal marijuana “baggies”. Most of the trash that we found was left there by visitors. Even though they were on a couple feet away from a trash can, they decided to leave it there instead of picking it up and throwing it away. We were there for two hours and we managed to fill three bags. Even though cleaning the beach brings a lot of self-appreciation. It also brings awareness to the problem that trash causes in the ecosystem. Most of the trash that doesn’t get picked usually will end up in the ocean, and many fish will eat the trash. Cleaning Dockweiler Beach was a very fun activity, especially when you’re cleaning it with a bunch of your friends.

Returning the Favor

Hello, my name is Jeanne Pascua and I'm one of Professor Holladay's English 101 students. On October 23rd, I had to participate in the Dockweiler clean up for service learning. To be honest, this event makes me reminisce when I used to be part of K.E.Y. Club in Eagle Rock High School. I had to do 60 hours of community service by the end of senior year. People may misinterpret this club for making "keys," but it's false. We had to help out the community by attending various events such as clean ups. Similarly, the last event I attended on my senior year helped the environment just like this clean up. We had to plant trees at Highland Park.

Attending this event was a wonderful experience; excluding the fact that I had to wake up early on a Sunday. Professor Holladay generously provided transportation for me. Since my dad was unfamiliar with the beach, this was very convenient. The clean up wasn't an individual activity. We had to form a group of four and carry one or two bags per group. My clean up group mates were: Luis Martinez, my English 101 teacher herself, and her daughter. We mainly cleaned near the coastline and encountered: candy wrappers, cigarette butts, eaten fruits, and other plastic material. Most of the trash we found were similar. Candy wrappers were a common sight. In my opinion, the most interesting trash that Luis encountered during the clean up was coal. I wouldn't know why coal would be sitting near the coastline unless it traveled through the ocean. A couple of things that he found that were also interesting were squeezed lemon slices. My professor assumes that people were having Tequila shots with lemon. Personally, the only interesting thing I've found was a sponge ball buried inside the sand. I had to excavate it. It was difficult to find something strange near the coastline rather than what I just mentioned. Apparently, it was the most famous location among other clean up volunteers.

I decided to take the bus back home with a friend of mine. Not only did I feel great about helping but I also experienced taking the Metro Line for the first time. One thing that disappointed me was how I didn't get to pick up trash aside from the candy wrappers. It was also difficult to take photos while cleaning up; particularly with dirty gloves on. Frankly, I was surprised when I found out that this beach was owned by Cal State L.A.

I believe that this was a terrific event especially for those who've never helped out their community. I wish that the majority would attend events such as these even if it isn't an assignment. As a student, I'm considering to volunteer for future clean ups. Since Mother Nature allowed us to manipulate her, we should return the favor.

Dirty Beaches

Ok, my name is Andres Vela, and a few classmates of mine and I participated in the Heal the Bay clean up event at Dockweiler beach on the 23rd of October. It was a great experience and an eye opening event to what goes on right in front of us at the beach. The most notorious piece of trash my group found were plastic and metal bottle caps. I hate bottle caps now. the experience was great, it has inspired me to participate in other Heal the Bay events and related events. My family and I recycle, but that's nothing compared to actually going out there and doing more than whats expected from our part. I learned that we as a group are to blame for the state of our environment, so its is up to us to fix what we've done. we cant get whats made it to the ocean, but we can do everything possible to prevent it from getting worse.

Helping The Bay

My name is Sebastian Sotelo and i attended the beach cleanup activity for Dockweiler and it was a fun and good experience. When i first arrived there i saw that it was pretty messy around with trash thrown into the bushes and down the hills and i was also surprised on how people are so careless on how they damage our ecosystem. All that trash that i picked up made me feel great inside because I wasn't only helping the ocean but ourselves in a way because it damages us and eventually we might end up killing ourselves one day if we continue this. I was proud of everyone that went to help clean up because it just feels good doing something for our community and for ourselves. There was one thing though that i still have in mind. If Dockweiler is the cleanest one, from what i saw, I wonder how dirty ones actually look like. It's ridiculous

Waking up in the early morning I had a nolgastic feeling. A feeling that I have not had in years since I was in elementary. So after I woke up took a shower and got dress. I waited at the bus stop to go to spring and temple because today was the day I was going to dockweiler beach to clean it up. When I got there it was still a long way before the meet up was at. It was a really in the foggy morning at the beach. When I arrive there I saw a group of people there and the leaders were taking the “permission slip” I should say, awhile I was about to give the slip I drop one but did not notice until someone pointed it out for me. When I went were everybody else went to gather the person in the red sweater was giving instructions. here we are getting the supply it was a bag for each group and a check list of what we piked up. I went an group up with my two class mates n friends

they were a lot of seaguls at dockweiler. We latter decided to group with other people. there is someone marking a tally on what we piked up. We were walking up further until we hit the mother load of beach trash we even found half of a watermelon

As we finish we went to look for more thrash we went in to gient rocks to see if there any trash in between them I saw some marine life on the sides of the rocks when there was nothing we left and one of our member started a small fire with an amber later we added more wood that was on the side so we took a break there near the fire because it was cold at the beach soon it was time to go and we left. When we got to the rondevu point (which is where we got our supply) there was not that much trash as I thought

It was a long time since I went to the beach and I had fun.

I'm Anthony Lien and on the day of the clean up my ride couldn't pick me up so i had to get my dad to take me so i got there late and by that time there wasn't really much to do. It was still fun to walk around the beach and pick the traash that was still there. At the end everyone found a lot of interesting stuff like a knife, a large blanket, and even a condom. I was really shocked when someone said that the this beach was one of the cleanest beach. I was shocked that it was even with all the trash, i wonder what the dirty ones look like.