Hello everyone my name is Kevin Villasenor. This past Saturday, April 22nd  I participated in my very first FOLAR Clean up  held by my English class and many other companies and campaigns who participated. it was a great experience helping out my community that I care for so much. it was a very hot day but it didn't stop me from helping our river get cleaner. while cleaning up the river I realize that, there is so much trash that I can't yet understand where it comes from. we need to put a stop to this because is not just damaging our river and our environment but it's also killing the wildlife. many of the birds and fishes who live in the LA River are contaminated, due to us throwing trash into it. by going to the FOLAR Clean up I realize that we must act quick before it too late. there is so much trash in the river that it coverts a lot of parts with it. if we keep doing this to our environment we will kill all the wildlife that lives along the river. we need to act fast to put a stop to it. as I was cleaning the river my friends and I found around 5 or 6 shopping cards that were buried with the sand and rock, as well as we found a lot of clothes hanging from the trees. as I continue to clean I realize that in less than one hour I had already filled up 3 huge black trash bags.  it made me feel sad because we should take care of out community that we live in because it will be the future for our kids and the future generations, and as I write this tons of trash our landing in our oceans and the fishes are feeding from it not knowing that this is harmful for them and might die after eating it. what I learn from this experience is that we need to all collaborate to stop dumping trash into the river and contaminated the little amount of fresh water that we have. with that being said I would go back next year to help my community and planet earth get cleaner that so we can have fresh water for ourselves and our wildlife friends.

 FOLAR Clean up. April 22, 2017

FOLAR (ENGL 2030 Prof. Hernandez) by Wilfred Christian Santiago Castillo

Hello my name is Wilfred Castillo. I am currently attending California State University Los Angeles and majoring in Civil Engineering. I recently volunteered in river clean-up event hosted by FOLAR, or known as Friends of the Los Angeles River. I was made aware of this event by my ENGL 2030 professor, Professor Ximena Hernandez. During the event I was able to partly assist in the handing-out of the "clean-up" plastic bags. I honestly was surprised by the amount of people that came to the event despite the the above average warm temperature. A little while after passing out the plastic bags, I began to actually pick up trash in the river. The location that we were cleaning up in was a location I actually see on a regular basis. This was due to me living about a five minute drive from the site. I never knew it was so polluted until I actually took a closer look. I thought the materials that would be left there would only be pieces of plastics that flew down from the freeway. However, once I actually had a close-up experience with the river, then I knew those LA River information in class weren't the "rarities". It turns plastics are only part of the pollution in the river. There are actually many pieces of metal in the river. And this was not just pieces that come from one shopping cart, but from other metals as well. It was hard to determine where these pieces came from because of the way that the metal pieces were bent and deteriorated (very rusty). If I wasn't careful, I would literally would have had a good chance of getting tetanus if  I got cut with of those pieces. No only did I find metals, but I also found a couple of fully intact, although a little dirty and scratched, clothes. One of those clothes would be a pair of denim jeans. The hardest part of the clean up was trying the pluck out the pollution that intertwined together. For example, vines/twigs, metals, plastics, and fabrics would intertwine into a pile. These "piles" are not small, but rather very large. Within those piles, I can see all those materials mixed in together.. And it was very difficult in removing the trash because they were so compact. Now I know why society actually needs to step in and clean up the pollution. These are the objects that float through Los Angeles and the ocean. Honestly, I am more concerned about the bacteria and chemicals that these pollution will release into our local waters because those are the things that can directly harm us. And if these things can harm us, it would make the environment and wildlife more susceptible. I believe that this was a good experience for me since it actually made me care about what is going on with my city. I am striving to be a civil engineer, and coming up ways to fix these types of issues is a job that civil engineers do. I feel that my experience during the clean up has broadened my view specific fields that CEs can work in. I learned during class that the LA River is connected to the drainage systems in streets across the city. And these how many of the trash is disposed in the river. Maybe in the future, I can even participate in a project that filters all the trash out before heading to the river.

FOLAR-Earth Day

Hello, my name is Luis Martinez and I am currently taking English 1005B with Ximena Hernandez and I had to participate in FoLAR's clean up the Los Angeles River event. It was on a Saturday April 22nd and I arrived at 9:00a.m. To be honest I did not want to go, but I am glad I did. By the end of the I learned three valuable lessons about our environment: do not liter all trash ends up somewhere, littering hurts our planet, and if left long enough the trash gets stuck really deep into our ground and trees. I was not as crazy as other people climbing trees and digging to pull out the plastic bags, but I feel as we all played a crucial role that day in helping out our environment. Global warming is fact not fiction. The  most common piece of trash there was plastic bags. I found them lying around, stuck on trees, deep in the dirt, and underneath dirt. What sucks about it the most is that the trash I mostly found is what we the consumers of stores throw away: grocery bags, chip bags, and ice cream wrappers. I stayed for a whole 2 hours and I only saw one bush or tree with actual blooming flowers at the cleanest part of the river. So I would believe if we make the whole river clean we could have more trees with blooming flowers which is better for the environment. The second most common trash I found was clothing. Ulysses my partner and I tried to pull a shirt from under the ground with both our strengths and we just couldn't do it. We had to give up and just pick up the easier things. It made me feel terrible because it felt like I was taking the easy way out to do my part. When the event was over it made me believe that it was possible to clean up the river bed if everybody does their part.

My Experience Volunteering at the Los Angeles River (FOLAR)

Good afternoon my fellow friends! My name is Richard Chavez and I am currently enrolled in English 2030 with professor Ximena Hernandez. On Saturday April 22, 2017 I had the great privilege in taking part of cleaning up the Los Angeles river. I had heard several stories about the river's condition, but I was excited to see it firsthand myself. As soon as I entered the parking lot I was amazed to see how many volunteers there were. I was warmly welcomed and given a bag as well some gloves. With my tools at hand I made my way down to the river’s entrance. At first glance I was amazed at how far the river extended and optimistic from seeing the flowing water in the river, but that all changed once I took a closer look at things. The beautiful scenery from far was overshadowed by the varying size pieces of trash that were scattered all across the river and its shoreline. As I began my journey on the shoreline I was coming across a lot of different sized plastics and other trash. You could find bits of trash in almost every nook and cranny within the river.

Picture 1: The trash can be literally found everywhere. This tree is being affected by the actions of  humans.  

I was confused at how some of these items even arrived to this location. Everyday items from shampoo bottles to can openers were spread across the shoreline. Finding these items left a lot of volunteers including myself in shock. Though these items were a bit strange I couldn’t help, but notice that my trash bag was rapidly filled up by large quantities of metal. I thought plastics were the main issue affecting the Los Angeles River. Little did I know that metals also had a huge impact on the environment. These metals were laid on top of trees and other plants which prevented them from growing. I noticed that a lot of volunteers would walk past the metals mainly because they were heavy. I thought to myself and said, “Isn’t the objective to pick up all the trash near and in the river?.” With this in mind I made it my mission to haul every piece of metal that I came across and bring it up to the trash container. While on my journey I came across several large pieces of metal including: a couple of shopping carts, metal wheels, parts from a washing machine, and industrial pipes. Hauling all this metal was a challenge, but it had to be done in order to protect the river.

Picture 2: Several pieces of metal that I came across while on my adventure.  

Humans need to wake up and realize the importance of taking care of their environment. In particular, we should focus on protecting our rivers because they are necessary for the survival of our ecosystems. The plants and animals around a river would not thrive and or even exist if the rivers that they depended on were polluted. Humans throw away their trash which contain different metals and plastics and that trash eventually enters through a storm drain which leads up to local rivers and lastly our oceans. These pieces of trash add deadly toxins into the environment and they eventually end up in the systems of humans through consumption. The Los Angeles River is currently facing this issue, but in a smaller scale compared to that of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The director, Angela Sun, created the film, “Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, which discussed the growing issue of a floating island of trash affecting ecosystems such as coral reefs in the Pacific Ocean. This island of trash is roughly the size of Texas and it was a result of careless actions caused by humans. Angela Sun stated, “All of this trash and plastic is what we throw away on an everyday basis” (Film). Human’s carelessly throw away their trash without realizing the unintended consequences. Many times animals confuse these plastics for food and that eventually kills them. To add on, plastics break down into smaller components and they release toxic chemicals into the water which are then consumed by different types of marine life. These animals are then consumed by humans and so we are ingesting the toxins that we initially released. This issue is a serious problem because our trash is destroying key ecosystems that ensure our survival. Humans depend on local ecosystems for food as well as livelihood and so without them our species could go extinct. In terms of the Los Angeles River we need to make sure that it is safe and pollutant free because the trash that arrives in that river eventually ends up in our oceans. By stopping this issue at its source we are ensuring the survival of our ecosystems and our species for generations to come.          

All together this event was eye opening while at the same time disheartening. It was disheartening in the sense that humans are the ones responsible for destroying this once-beautiful environment. The irresponsible act of humans throwing away trash in the river has polluted it and nearly wiped it out. Luckily, good Samaritans have stepped forward in an effort to save the river, but a long battle still awaits. This experience was eye opening because it showed me that small individual efforts such as picking up trash from the river can go a long way in changing the future. Overall, it was a successful earth day!   

 Picture 3: The finished product from my wonderful day. 

Picture 4: Call me the metal collector! This was the largest piece of metal that I retrieved from the river.

My experience volunteering at the L.A. river (FOLAR)

Picture 1: Dry river beds of the L.A. River. Also, people working!

Hey, everyone! My name's Ingelbert Figueroa and as of the day of this post a student at CSULA taking ENG 2030. My experience volunteering for FOLAR was one to remember. This was the first I had ever set foot on the L.A. river and I didn't have much expectation. I had read much on the internet regarding the condition of the river, but I had been skeptical. After seeing it for myself, I now know that there is a serious environmental issue plaguing our potential water source. I must admit, I had no interest in the condition of the L.A. river and until recently I never actually considered it a river.

Plastic polluted the river. It hung from trees and was buried in dirt. Trash from more than a decade ago was still present and shopping carts were remnant and covered in rust. It look as though the trees were pulled from the ground and pushed aside (Picture 2). 

Picture 2: Roots of a Tree and its remains.

At first glance, the task of ridding the river of plastics and other trash seemed unlikely. But, I came to realization that even my efforts, the efforts of my partner Emily (Picture 3) and the efforts of everyone participating for FOLAR, are making a difference.

     Picture 3: Emily making a difference!

After seeing the river in this condition I have a better understanding of the nature of the problem. The amount of plastic debris in the river bank, soil, and trees presents a serious issue that continues to persist over the years due to neglect from Los Angeles locals. In the documentary Plastic Paradise we are given a glance of the harm plastics have to our environment and their severity. It becomes apparent that plastic is a very persistent man made material and its difficult to eliminate from our ecosystem. And with the powers that control the production of this material not caring about its effects, the task seems unfruitful. Life near the oceans are affected by this and in turn the people are affect as well. Our food source, potential water source, and land need to be maintained by those who inhabit it and we should not be the problem. Seeing the L.A. river in its current condition strikes a cord and motivates me to make a difference, even if small, for the earth.  

Earthday Volunteering at Los Angeles River (FoLAR)

(Picture 1)
My FoLAR partner Ingelbert
and I ready to make a difference!

(Picture 2)
Veteran Cheeto bag of the L.A. River
currents!

Hello fellow classmates! My name is Emily Pascua, if you're taking English 2030 (Technical Writing) with Ximena Hernandez it is most likely you had to participate in FoLAR's Los Angeles River event. I for myself did. And today on Saturday April 22nd, I learned about three valuable environmental-related lessons: all trash goes somewhere, trash is slowly killing our planet both aesthetically and physically, and plastic is stubborn and literally invincible. Although I enjoyed watching everybody play an individual but crucial roll in helping the environment, being part of the actual experience made me realize in a first-hand perspective of how real of a problem trash is; especially non-biodegradable trash. The first and most common piece of trash was plastic bags. They decorated everywhere: under dirt, over trees, and snugged tight between crevices of rocks (Picture 3). Plastic was so prevalent in the Los Angeles River, I found myself questioning why haven't we stopped using them earlier? For what I remember, the whole plastic bag awareness-craze began only a few years ago from today, yet these bags seemed to pollute our city even before then.

In a documentary directed by Angelina Sun called Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, this problem of plastic actually becomes evident. In the documentary, Sun explains and also visually shows where plastic goes; to the "Pacific Garbage Patch". The Pacific Garbage Patch is an island supposedly an island three-times the size of Texas that's full of complete garbage (mainly plastic). The documentary exposes the horrors of our everyday "necessity" plastic; how it has been affecting wild life like Albatrosses and marine life who accidentally feed themselves and their young small pieces plastic. Also, ocean life in which huge fish nets made of non-biodegradable material that rake the ocean floor, destroying coral (Sun). It's a pretty sad thought that everything from the river beds, including the L.A. river, will eventually become a part of the non biodegradable garbage patch.

Aside from the plastic bags, it was a pretty heartbreaking moment noticing how many of the other trash (such as clothes and car-accessories) where found entangled between tree branches. Although my partner Ingelbert Figueroa (Picture 1) and I attempted to pull them away from the branches, we had to ultimately give up. This was because the majority of the other trash seemed to be unrecoverable due to the strong branches that intertwined between them. To me, the only solution would be to resort to completely destroying the tree all together (which is horrible). Altogether, the event was lively it was also ironically disheartening. Disheartening because of the overwhelming amount of hardcore number-six plastics that littered the river bed. I remember from a slide-show we saw in class that the L.A. River's steep path is responsible for the entanglement of garbage on trees because of the strong currents during rainy seasons. In fact, to an extent it almost seemed impossible to clean it all up entirely. However with that said, the event also made me realize that people do actually notice and care about this problem; how individually, we can still make a difference one person at a time.

(Picture 3)
Guess: actual trash or Halloween? Trash!

(Picture 4)
I did not want to fall into those
waters at all.

Earthday-FoLAR

La Gran Limpieza 

Good afternoon/evening, my name is David Ortega. I am currently enrolled in section 36 with professor Hernandez. Saturday, April 22nd, 2017, I volunteered to clean up the Los Angeles river with other participants. As a first timer, I have experienced a lot of amazing things that one person can do by making a difference. As most of you guys may know, the LA river has been dried for a long period of time and has been dirty. The picture indicated below(picture 2), has a lot of meaning to the LA river. In other words, the LA river can have a lot of trash due to homeless persons who live by the river and take the market carts to stock their clothes and other objects. 
Some things that I found interesting while I was cleaning the river was, there was more plastic bags than any other trash. Once me and my group had arrived to the bottom of the river, there was many small and tall trees. In those trees, there were so many plastic bags on them. A book that our class is reading which is No Impact Man by Colin Beavan, has some type of comparison with FoLAR. The comparison between both was the plastic bags. In the book, Beavan discusses how he wants avoid using plastic bags with his project because it can cause a lot of carbon footprint. His project can be helpful with the situation in the LA river, that caused a lot of harm into the environment. 

Trash(Picture 2)

Did you know?

Maintaining the environment clean isn't very easy, but to help out the community and being able to see other people volunteer, can be a great experience. Not only are we helping out the community, but we are also helping ourselves to make sure not to litter and throw away our trash appropriately.
Don't forget to make a difference!

Animal Fossil