Los Angeles River Clean Up Essay

Words: 1135
Pages: 5

I did not know that LA had a river until one day my friend and I went to ride a bicycle along the bank of the river. I found it refreshing and healthy outdoor activity. The river seemed pretty clean for the most part. Then an opportunity came up in your class to go to the cleanup and I decided to do my research about the river and the cleanup efforts. The cleanup efforts were organized by the non-profit called Friends of the Los Angeles River. The organization was founded in 1986, according to their website, their mission is to protect and restore the natural and historic heritage of the Los Angeles River and its riparian habitat through inclusive planning, education and wise stewardship. This year was the 27th annual cleanup. The river is especially polluted this time because El Niño swept through the watershed washing trash from surrounding areas into the channel.
When I arrived at the cleanup station, what surprised me was the amount of people that showed up. We had to wait in line for half an hour to get through. When I went to the cleanup
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There are many other non-profit organizations that are devoted to the development of the river or have some other vested interest in it. Some other organizations are riverla.org, which is a non-profit founded by the City of Los Angeles and it works on the revitalization of the river. They need to participate more actively in the cleanup process since they are affiliated with the city (I emailed them as well but did not get any response). Another organization that has interest in the development of the river, particularly its bike lanes, is Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC). Furthermore, FoLAR made a great point about the corporate responsibility of the companies whose products end up in the river. I personally pulled out a Target shopping cart as mentioned above and various plastic cups and wrappers of fast food companies such as