L.A. RIVER CLEANUP

             Arriving to the L.A. River was very confusing due to all the cross streets and the abandoned road leading to the parking lot. Along the roads was trash and graffiti along the cement and road way. Seeing this I thought I was in the wrong location. As soon as I was able to find the parking lot, I saw the majority of the younger generation ready to help our L.A. River. I met up with a friend of mine and we both walked into the river, I couldn't believe how great the turn out was for the clean up. Seeing whats become of the L.A. River shocked me due to how much litter was around. After noticing the condition of the river I soon signed the waiver and picked up my FOLAR t-shirt, gloves, and trash bag. Luckily my friend and I ran into a couple of classmates which made the experience better. We first started off right below the bridge and picked up what we could see and we moved further down the river to continue our clean up. A lot of the waste was stuck in between branches and little areas into the bushes that made it more difficult to pick up. However, seeing the river was a relaxing view.As we moved our clean up further along, we were able to clean up until 11 am. With all the help from everyone on Saturday the river was one step closer to being a clean river for families to enjoy. 

            Experiencing the L.A. River was something out of my comfort zone. Cleaning in an outdoor environment is not my typical idea of a Saturday however, being a part of it made me feel good about helping the environment. Knowing that our waste go to such a beautiful location really hit me  since our waste is affecting a beautiful part of where we live. Most people have never heard of the L.A. river and its so sad to think they will never be able to enjoy the beauty of it because waste continues to go in that part. Being a part of this experience has truly sown me that we should all take into consideration the environment after all, it is  where we live.