Los Angeles River Clean-Up

On Saturday May 3rd, I went to the LA River to help pick up trash with FOLAR. At first, I thought cleaning the river would involve more of actually being able to see the river and get the trash perhaps floating on the edges. It turned out that you had to walk through a lot of trees to actually see the river which wasn't all that impressive. That's not the point though, in reality it felt good being able to pick up trash to make our environment cleaner. Knowing you are doing something that will help the planet can give you a sense of joy, even if you're doing it because of an assignment. My group and I gather four bags filled with trash that we found scattered all around the area. Most of it was plastic bags piled up underneath dirt and stuck in between branches. It was annoying pulling the bags and having them ripped into more trash. We also found plastic bottles, glass bottles, as well as crusty old clothes. It was surprising seeing clothes in the area and makes you wonder how that could have ended up in the river. Our four trash bags combine with all the other bags the rest of the people had turned out to be a huge pile of trash picked up from a single area of the river. It made me realize that a few people working together can make an impact on the environment. We need more people with the same mentality of wanting to help the environment come together and make a difference. In the end, it was a great new experience for me being able to attend this event with FOLAR and know that I made a difference my environment.