Heal the Bay Cleanup by Brianna Hernandez

Hi my name is Brianna and this is my first quarter at CSULA, on October 12, 2014 with my English 101S and University 101 I was given the opportunity help clean up Dockweiler Beach.  It was such a great experience to be apart of something like this.  I’ve done volunteer work in the past but never anything like this, it was crazy to see what kind of trash you can find on the beach that you would never think you would find, like a stuffed bear for example.  It was also very sad too actually see how much trash people carelessly leave on the beach like their cigarette buds, empty chip bags, cups, and other things and it just upsets me to see no one takes any interest in keeping our environment clean for future generations.  I was so glad I got this chance to really see the “ugly” side to our beautiful beaches because it really gave me an open mind to the next time I see a plastic bag or empty can flying around on the beach and how it isn’t hard to pick it up and throw it away in the nearest trash can.  Thank you Mrs. Hernandez and Mr. Colnely for this great experience. 

Heal The Bay: Dockweiler Beach

Knowing that I had to wake up extra early just to clean up a beach was something I really wasn't looking forward to until I actually did it. This is the first beach clean-up event I've attended and I enjoyed it more than I thought. While doing the actual cleaning, my group and I came across some outrageous objects. There were things that we never thought we would find at the beach. This experience was a very good one. I honestly didn't think that our beaches would be this dirty. Its very shocking how we can be so thoughtless and leave our garbage all over the shore when there are a countless number of trashcans around. It really seems like we aren't responsible enough or just simply don't care about our beaches, which is very sad. Overall I really enjoyed cleaning up the beach even though it was only for a couple of hours. 

Vamos a la playa! (But to clean it)

The beach clean up that we did at Dockweiler Beach on Sunday was an interesting experience. I had never done any hands-on volunteer to actually go to clean a public place, and this was a successful first time! I discovered the many things people can throw away without having a conscience of what those are capable of doing to the environment. Sandals, socks, plastic bags, wrappers, dirty diapers, cigarette butts, lots of them, and even human hair. Yes, you heard me right, actual human hair. It amazes me how people are unable to clean up after themselves, even though the beach was filled with trash cans that were every 20 feet from each other, literally. Just because you are not in your home it does not give you the right to turn a place into your own dumpster. It's a public space, so we should learn to take care of it, for our own sake and for the habitat of the animals that are put to danger due to the irresponsibility of people. I am glad I was able to contribute at least a little to improve the conditions of this beach and to give a hand to the community. It never hurts to do your part, specially if it's for something that is for the good of everyone. 

     
 

Beach Clean-Up

This past weekend I got to participate in a Heal the Bay event at Dockweiler beach. I actually enjoyed myself for the most part because as I was walking along the beach, I knew I was doing something helpful and saving victims of a shameless crime that people don't think about when committing the act. The beach is full of little bits of trash that are most harmful to the animals in and around the ocean because they are all affected by the trash. The trash can either pile up on the sand and the birds will try to eat it or the trash will be brought into shore and fish think that it's regular food floating around. I tried my best to pick up all the little trash from cigarrette butts to pieces of foam. There just too much mess made by people to actually have the beach clean. If only everybody did their part and thought about the community rather than just missing the trash can and being too lazy to pick it up, maybe our world would be different. We would be more self-conscious about nature and feel bad for dropping trash on the floor, but that's in a fantasy world. This event did change my way of thinking when it comes to littering because I actually got to see how the ocean is effected from our carelessness. I understand that the picture below of the bird is pretty harsh, but it's something interesting that was found on the beach. There are endless theories towards why that bird is dead, but even just having a dead bird on the beach is unisanitsary for everybody. It could stay there for days and rot. If any animal tried to eat that, it's all down hill from there. Events like these can be life changing to people as long as they know how much they are truly helping nature be cleaner as it once was.

Beach Clean Up!

Being able to participate in Heal the Bay was a wonderful experience. I never noticed how dirty the beach actually is until I had to pick up trash. I was really amazed at some of the things my group and I found, I couldn't believe that people actually just leave their clothes in the sand. My group also found two huge bears that were cut open, that was really weird and I was so curious to find out what went on. After this experience I could definitely say that there has to be more people aware of the dangers that are caused by all the littering they do on they beach. All the trash causes danger for the animals because eventually all the trash will go into the ocean but it's also dangerous for us humans because we found broken glass hidden under the sand. Over all, it was a great experience and more people should volunteer to clean the beach so that it is safer for everyone including the animals in the ocean.

heal the bay october 2014

so this past Sunday i volontered  to clean the beach with some of my peers . although i know some of us just did it get out of a research paper, me being guilty i did the same. however my entire perspective changed  as soon i actually started  cleaning up the the beach. prior to the pick up  we where informed about the beach and all the protocols and procedures. just the usual stuff .so when we started to actually to do the clean up, generally seeking i want to say just about everything all of us volunteers picked up was just trash from people who occupied the bonfire.
ok i understand that sometimes thing fly out of the trash cans when the wind picks up .but really that wasn't the case here . it really looked like people visited the beach to just set up camp and leave everything where it stood. so in personal opinion and i believe most would agree with me everyone should be held accountable and should be responsible for the trash they produce. so yes , i do think fines should be given to those that litter and add to pollution to our oceans.i didn't have a bad time cleaning up the beach and i think everyone should volunteer every once  in a while so maybe they can change there perspective a little and live a little greener.

Beach Cleanup

Being able to volunteer my time and cleanup the beach was such a thrill. I was amused at all the trash I actually picked up. Its such a great satisfaction to know that because of a good deed I did, the beach is much cleaner now than it was before. I found all sorts of things just thrown at the beach from cigarette butts too unstuffed teddy bears. As I was walking down the beach with a few of my peers we saw a man fishing. We didn't think fish would swim so near the shore but we were wrong. We actually got to hold a baby shark and that was great. This beach cleanup was definitely a wonderful experience and a big eye opener. Now I know better than to go to the beach and not pick up after myself.

A Productive Day at Dockweiler Beach

Have you ever held a baby tiger shark, found $20 dollars AND cleaned a beach all in one morning? Well I am. This past Sunday, October 12, 2014, my English 101S and University 101 class participated in the Heal the Bay beach clean at Dockweiler Beach. To be honest, I did not like the idea of waking up early on a Sunday,  commuting to the beach, and cleaning up after messy beach-goers but surprisingly, I loved it! When I first got there, my mom, grandma and I walked around and while kicking around sand a $20 dollar bill popped up and it was certainly a great way to start my morning. Then once all the participates arrived we were put in groups and given gloves, trash bags and a data sheet. At the beginning of our hunt for trash a fisherman had captured a baby tiger shark and let us hold it and take pictures which was really cool! Also, during the trash pick up we found a few oddities! My friend, Jannet, found and picked up a used female product, which was really gross! Then we found huge stuffed bears in the trash, a broken bucket, a shovel, and a broken sand castle play set. The item we found the most of was cigarette buds and pieces of plastic. The entire experience was sincerely an eye opener. I never realized how dirty the beach is until I went to clean. I'm guilty of littering and now I feel terrible about it. Conversely, cleaning the beach and knowing I'm doing a little bit of effort to save animals and help the environment made me feel good about myself.

Dockweiler Beach cleanup

Hi my name is Cynthia Campos, on Sunday October 12 I went to the beach for the first time. My dad took the liberty of waking up early, so we could go to Dockweiler Beach, since we live an hour away. It wasn’t hard to find. When I looked at the beach it looked clean, but when I got out, and started walking towards the beach I saw bags of food, paper cups/plates, and so much more. When I got my gloves I went with three other girls, and we started picking up small things like pieces of plastic, cigarettes, foam, and even socks and shoes. We kept on wondering the beach when I came across a seagull eating plastic out of the trash, it flew once someone got close. That got me thinking, why wasn’t the trash can close? And what will happen to the seagull if it can’t digest his foods correctly? These animals don’t know what food is and what isn’t, that is why we should help them, instead of polluting places like the beach. One common trash that we found in the beach was cigarettes. People usually stomp on cigarettes in on order to extinguish them, but is it too hard to pick it up and throw it to the nearest trash can? Animal can mistake them for bread crumbs. Now I know that beaches aren’t clean, because when I saw all the trash that every person had in their bag I was proven that many people don’t care where they leave their trash at. They don’t stop and think about the harm they bring to the animals and nature around them. Going to Dockweiler Beach was a great experience, and it was proof for me that we should take matters into our own hands, and make this world into a better place for the next generation. 

The Captain Planet Squad

Captains log 1432, My name is Cebren Benson. I'm 18 years old and i'm currently a freshie at Cal State La. If your wondering who I am in the picture above lets just say im different. The transition from high school to college has been easy due to the great teachers First Year Experience (F.Y.E.) hooked me up with (Shoutout to Ms. Hernandez). My English 101 class is themed off environmental sustainability and other important topics that are directed towards our future and past as resource thriving humans. We've been learning about this through various text such as the classic book "The Lorax", Jenny Price's article "Thirteen Ways of seeing nature in La", and the California Scheming story.  One of our first activities that we recently finished was taking part in the Docweiler Beach Cleanup. The activity was real cool especially, because i had a really conversational group and it was interesting to see how all the items we found told a little story about who or what might've put the trash there. Some was too obvious, we found like 4 pairs of shoes from people who turn't up the night before. Another highlight was when everybody started walking out to clean, like it was rows of trash. I've done beach clean ups before and usually i'd be mad, because there's like 200 hundred people to like 20 pieces of trash. Those were at nicer beaches like Santa Monica and Venice is a whole different blog. There was tons of birds also which im 100 percent sure a good amount of them mistake the left over trash from the party goers for food. Im not saying theres nobody that does anything positive to the environment, but the goal right now is to make people realize that everything that they do impacts someone else and eventually comes back to them.  All this stuff falls into morality and ethics, not to say you have to be a jesus figure, but just be smart enough to stay aware. Thats all I have to say thanks for reading.


Btw, Captains log was a star trek joke. Just Saying.

Service Learning Project

On Sunday morning, October 12, 2014 I participated in a beach clean up event called "Heal The Bay." The event was with my English 101s class, we all gathered around to help clean up Dockweiler Beach, which is the officially adopted my CSULA. When we arrived at the beach we received gloves, trash bags, and tally sheets. The tally sheets were to tally up what kind of trash we found that day. For two hours my group and I walked around the beach picking up trash. What we encounter the most was cigarette bubs, plastic bags, and foam cups. We also found some strange things like socks, under shirts, and even a bra! I found the activity quite fun and felt good at the end for helping out our environment. We cleaned out three bags of trash and I feel we all made the beach look better that day. Another thing I learned from this activity was that people really do not care about all the trash they are throwing on our beach. I believe that this beach clean up really taught my classmate and I how important it is to keep our beaches and other parks clean. I hope to one day participate in another clean up! I enjoyed helping the environment!

Heal The Bay Service Learning Project

My name is Monica Morales and today I participated in a Heal the Bay activity with my CSULA English 101 class at Dockeweiler Beach. I had never actually participated in a service learning activity before so this was very new and intriguing for me. The project itself consisted of cleaning up or picking up trash items off the beach, including the parking lot and surrounding areas. We were to place all trash in a plastic bag and keep track of the types that we came across.

Perhaps I'll begin with something a bit more light-hearted. My team and myself found that beach goers can be very forgetful. We found five shoes. Some were singles. We were warned that we may encounter items a little more grotesque including but not limited to condoms and diapers. We encountered both but could not bring ourselves to pick the up even with our gloved hands. It was a lot of laughs but it also got us thinking why some of these were left behind, more specifically, why did a mother find it unnecessary to toss a diaper in one of the many trashcans along the beach after having changed her baby?

Something I found quite alarming and equally disturbing was the amount of Styrofoam cups and plates we found. I'm betting at least fifty of them. In one particular area of the beach, we found about twenty or so plates reminiscent of a night-before birthday party. The cake smeared all over them was the tell. I just thought to myself:"Did these people just finish their cake and toss the plate on the sand? Do they toss their styrofoam plates on the floor in their own home when they are through with them? Did the host say, "Hey, anyone who is done with their cake can just ...toss it I guess." Did a single soul even suggest the garbage can?" These are all questions I asked myself a few hours after the clean-up was over.

Cigarette butts, cigarette butts everywhere. I have found that today, one either hates or is apathetic towards smokers. So naturally, it can be shameful to come out as a smoker. Today, I find it necessary to tell you all that I enjoy the occasional cigarette. I feel compelled to do so because I must tell the world that we are not all the same. To my fellow smokers who enjoy a ben at the beach, or in any other public area, I have a message for you: please invest in a metal cigarette holder/container. Not only will it make one look super hip, but you can also conveniently put your ben out and leave the butt in the metal box until you reach a trashcan or ashtray. It's sad to see, especially out there on the sand. Personally, I use to just flick and go but the habit became unbearable. Today, I carry my pack in a metal container for the sake of morality and littering.

In conclusion, I had only visited Dockweiler beach on one other occasion prior to today's clean-up and one of my first impressions was the filth. There is trash all over the place, more-so than in any other beach I have been in California. More than Santa Monica I dare say. Participating in this activity today gave me a bit of comfort. Just knowing that there are people out there who care can be just a tinge helpful. A gentlemen on the beach asked me who we were and what we were doing this for. I said, " We're CSULA students and we're here for a Heal the Bay beach-cleanup." He gave us a thumbs up and said that what we were doing was great. He conclded with a simple, "Good job guys." That right there is the comfort I mentioned before.

Heal the Bay @ Dockweiler Beach cleanup

         My name is Stephanie Gutierrez and today, October 12, 2014, my class and I participated in the Heal the Bay cleanup at Dockweiler beach. Not only have I never been to this beach but I've never even heard of it so I was quite curious in how the morning would play out. After having a little bit of trouble trying to find the beach, my friend, Alicia, and I found Dockweiler beach and immediately thought that this beach was just like an ordinary beach. Soon after meeting up with the CSULA group, Alicia and I formed a group with three other girls and started to wander the beach and look for any signs of trash. Wasn't that hard to find. While we were picking up little pieces of trash and sometimes, heavy pieces, I started to think, "Are all beaches this dirty?" I mean, I've been to Santa Monica, Venice and Huntington beach and sure they all have their own bits of trash, but I just never thought it was that big of a deal cause the amount of effort to pick it up is so small. While searching the beach, we picked up a variety of different wastes, such as cigarette butts, candy wrappers, pieces of plastic, a pair of socks, shoes, and large pieces of charcoal. And some more plastic. And cigarette butts. I never really noticed, or took the time to notice how much waste is on our beaches but also how little people care about it. It's not going to stop because we don't care enough to realize what we're actually doing to nature around us. We all need to start caring just a little bit more and maybe our environment won't be so polluted and dirty. I'm glad to say Dockweiler opened my eyes a bit more to see the real problem and I'll continue to try and find the solution. 

Dockweiler Beach Clean Up

On October 12, 2014 our class participated in the Heal the Bay beach clean up at Dockweiler  Beach. The event was only two hours long. During those two hours my group collected three bags full of trash . In the group we picked up many cigarette buds, peaces of Styrofoam, empty chip bags, water bottles and pieces of clothing. It is really surprising how  so much trash can be left around the beach and nobody do anything about it. This event helped me realize that there are many careless people are out there that don't know or don't care about the trash they leave behind and the harm that it does to animals that live at the beach. The Heal the Bay was a great experience and it is something I would do again.

Heal the Bay clean up

          

   

           On Sunday, October 12, 2014 we participated with “Heal the Bay” by cleaning up Dockweiler beach. We took 2 hours out of our day to help make Dockweiler beach a better place for animals and people. During this trip my group and I found many different items that should have been thrown away in the trash. It is unbelievable to see how many trashcans there are and how they are not being used accordingly. Walking around the beach we found several cigarette buds, torn foam cups, food wrappers, clothing articles, and many plastic bags. When walking further down the beach my group and I stumble upon a pile of scattered trash near a lifeguard post. By cleaning up that pile of trash we collected 3 bags full of the trash. Cleaning the beach showed me that we take for granted many public place and we do not clean them up because they do not belong to us. We who attend these public places should be more considerate for cleaning our messes and should be more aware of the environment around us. People are not aware of the danger that they cause the animals that live in the beach and the harm that they cause people around them. In all, it was a great learning experience and we should help make this world a better place to live in by cleaning up after ourselves.

Heal the Bay clean up!

Today as a class we took two hours from our daily routine to "Heal the Bay" by cleaning up Dockweiler beach. Living so close to the beach just 10 minutes away I constantly visit it during the summer but never quite noticed how truly polluted with filth the beach really is. You would think with so many trash cans around the beach people would have the decency to pick after themselves and throw away their trash and wood after their bonfires are done. Walking on the beach we found an abundant amount of cigarette butts, plastic bags, foam paper cups, chip bags, water bottles, missing socks, just scattered around. When we walked further we discovered a pile of washed up trash on the sand, picked up almost three bag fulls which we emptied in the trash cans not far from our location. There were quite a few odd item such as two huge costco bears torn apart in the trash and a bra laying around in the sand. People should be more considerate of the animals and the harm they may be causing to the environment and clean up after themselves, just like you don't leave trash laying around at your house why would people do it anywhere else. The world is our home that we have to help sustain.

LA River Clean Up

Hello, I am Jaclyn Martinez
 I attended the LA River clean up as a part of my English class assignments.
This LA River clean up trip was a total adventure for me. It was the complete opposite to what I was expecting. One thing I was not expecting were all the plants and trees that were growing in the middle of the river, but what was disturbing was to see all the garbage that was stuck in the trees because they had apparently adapted and grown with the trash. That made the trash extremely difficult to pick up. The item that was most difficult to obtain were the plastic bags because many of them were stuck in threes, they intertwined in the branches, others were half buried in the ground and could not always be pulled out because it would tear leaving the rest of the bag stuck somewhere in the ground. Going into the river to clean up was not the most pleasant adventure because of all the plants, bugs, air particles and heat  however it was a mind bottling and learning experience. I admit that when LA decided to ban plastic bags at the supermarkets I was upset because it made grocery shopping less convenient but when I saw how many bags we had to pick up and how many were stuck and unsalvageable I then understood that maybe just buying canvas bags to replace plastic bags is not completely a bad idea. this experience was not all bad because it was interesting to see that deep in the la river can be lying the most bizare and unimaginable items. For example, my team and I found a complete Toy Story blanket what was amazing was that despite it being buried under a tree and tangled in the roots of the tree, the blanket was in tact; it was about 5 sq. feet. Along with the blanket we found half a car tire that was also buried under a tree, fortunately we were able to dig it out. Unlike the blanket and car tire, we found a cart that was unfortunately impossible to get out because of all the plants already growing in and around it, plus we did not find it safe because we did not know if any animals had already made it into their home. Although finding these cool items somewhere unexpected was productive my team and I were disappointed to not be able to find and opening into the river, no matter how much we walked down the river passed all the plants we could not find an opening into the river and after a while we gave up. At the end of the day my team and I felt accomplished and proud of what we had done. It was a new adventure for all of us and taught us numerous things. It was a good day.

Hello my name is Keyera Johnson and I attended the LA River clean up with professor Hernandez English 101. During the La river clean up my group and I found unbelievable items while walking around cleaning. We saw and found things like food wrappings, a lot of plastic, pieces of clothing and even a suit case, but we could not grab it out due to the fact it was deep in the ground and wrapped in between the tree. I could not believe how much trash it was polluted in that area, it amazed me because the things we found were every day items we use. Also I learned that majority of the trash was plastic bottles and food wrappings and I remember during my trash experiment I collected lot's of food wrappings as well. Before taking a trip to the La river I knew nothing about it and I had no clue what it even looked like, now that I have gotten the chance to see/ experience the clean up I strongly encourage others to come out and help clean it up. Just imagine how beautiful it would be and how we would be able to get our water from there instead of somewhere else. I actually got a chance to see the river and it looked very dirty and also had a smell to it I was surprised when I seen the ducks swimming in that type of water. Over all I learned that we polluted our resources and it harms our economy and makes the city looks dirty.

LA River clean up

My little sister

An old fan that I found

My name is Jocelyn Perez and I'm from Ximena Hernandez English 101 class. My point of view of the environment have always been different compared to others, I've always wondered what would life be like without our natural resources? This class has taught me to be aware of the amount of natural resources I'm using. I appreciate every ounce of it. So this past weekend on Saturday May 3, I helped out the community by attending a clean up event. Not only was I fortunate to go, but I also had the opportunity to join the team and clean the Los Angeles river. It feels amazing when you know you're putting your part in by helping the environment. When I arrived I saw a whole group of people and I couldn't believe the amount of people that were there. It surprised me because the amount of people I saw there were there to help out our environment, usually now in todays society nobody cares about the environment. So that's why it surprised me that there were people who took their time of the day to help out. My little sister tagged along with me, I wanted her to experience this with me because not many children are expose to this kind of things. When we started to clean, we were given two bags and a pair of gloves. As we went along the river, we came across a lot of trash bags and plastic bottles. The trash bags were hard to pick up from the trees, I was surprised how much of a good grip I had to have in order to get the bags. There was also paper and rubber bands. Beside the bags, we also collected food wrappings. It was disappointing at first because I thought it was going to smell fresh and it was the complete opposite. It smelled really bad, instead of smelling like fresh air, it smelled polluted and I felt awful because we are the reason the river looks like this. The trash that appeared to be there was because of us. This relates to our reading in class No Impact Man, how us humans impact the environment. No Impact Man explains the concept of plastic bags and how they end up in the ocean harming other sea-life. Also, the reading from Jenny Price "How to see L.A thirteen ways" relates to this experience, L.A is much more than a city of fame and riches, there's a lot more to L.A then what it seems to be. We are the reason for this, we should instead recycle our bags and water bottles, too. I would't mind doing this experience again. Overall, this experience has taught me and showed me what harm we are doing to our environment and how blind we are. I'm enjoying this class because it is teaching me more about nature and how we should view nature. We have a group of people who are joining together to make a difference in this community.