Volunteers with Ballona Creek Renaissance joined with Culver City Boy Scout Troop 50 to organize one of their very popular creek cleanups on Saturday, April 19. The next cleanup is scheduled for Saturday June 28.
The location, the Creek bike path entrance at Centinela Avenue where the upstream concrete channel bottom becomes natural silt, is home to plants of many kinds sprout at the edges of the creek, and where birds and fish are found in the stream, making it look more like a natural creek. But trash collects there around the plants, carried downstream by the rain and irrigation waters that drain much of the Los Angeles basin.
Evan Dumas, an 11th grade student at Culver City High School and a scout working on his Eagle badge project, played a major role in organizing the cleanup along with fellow scouts, troop leaders and BCR leaders. A total 115 volunteers participated, removing from the creek and banks not only a lot oftrash, styrofoam and plastic but also a garbage disposal, a soaked greasy bedspread, many empty spray paint cans, and more than a dozen soccer and other balls.
Also found were a syringe, two dead birds and a lot of metal pipe and rebar. Volunteers were instructed in safety procedures and given gloves, buckets, and tools to reach and remove the trash; the syringe was carefully placed in a special container for such objects. Trash and recyclables were separated into black and blue bins and weighed by City of Los Angeles: the total trash collected amounted to 706 pounds and recyclables totaled 163 pounds not counting the weight of the bins.
The satisfaction of helping to improve the environment has led to increasing volunteer turnouts at these cleanups.
This event would not be possible without the support of L.A. County Department of Public Works and Flood Control, L.A. City Office of Beautification, Mike Bonin Council District 11, L.A. City Sanitation Department and Del Rey Neighborhood Council.
Ballona Creek Renaissance is a non-profit tax-deductible organization dedicated to improving Ballona Creek and its entire 127-square-mile watershed regarding habitat for native animals and plants, education, recreation, and attractiveness. BCR works with schools, public agencies and other non-profit entities to teach about conservation and preservation of natural resources of the watershed and provide opportunities for people of all ages to learn and participate. For more information about our programs and future cleanups, visit our website at www.ballonacreek.org or contact Sandrine@ballonacreek.org.