English Department Beach Clean-up

Students in several first-year English and Introduction to Higher Education classes took to Southern California beaches to participate in a Heal the Bay beach clean-up at Dockweiler Beach. Through the work of faculty members Lollie Ragana, Jenny Hicks, Ximena Hernandez, Harry Conley, and Laura Garrett, nearly one hundred CSULA students spent a Sunday morning in October combing through the California sand and came away with, among other things, 143 glass beverage bottles and 659 cigarette butts.

The beach clean-up was part of the English Department's Adopt-a-Beach commitment with Heal the Bay. Three times a year students in first-year writing classes participate in beach clean-ups at Dockweiler Beach in Los Angeles County. In some classes, students are given the option of using their found objects (i.e. trash) to create art. Once complete, students post pictures of their creations along with a brief reflection on their work to a blog dedicated to these works of art. The blog with its postings of student work is called Reduce, Reuse, Recycle @ CSULA  and can be found at http://reducereuserecycleatcsula.blogspot.com/.

Participation in the Heal the Bay Adopt-a-Beach program is part of the English Department's broader effort to incorporate community and civic participation into a wide variety of classes. For more information on these efforts, visit the department's page on Engagement and Service.

Below is an inventory of the "found objects" pick up by CSULA students at the October clean-up.

Plastic beverage bottles: 117
Glass beverage bottles: 143
Aluminum cans: 48
Plastic bags: 200
Plastic snack bags: 173
Plastic wrappers: 446
Plastic fast food: 201
Plastic rings/bottle caps: 366
6-pack rings: 17
newspaper ties, strapping bands: 35
Plastic stirrers, straws: 105
Fishing line, nets, lures, floats: 29
Plastic motor oil bottle: 6
Balloons/ribbons: 108
Plastic pieces: 549
Foam peanuts: 13
Foam fast food containers: 123
Styrofoam pieces: 381
Cigarette butts: 659
Cigar tips: 47
Disposable lighters: 17
Paper bags: 69
Cardboard, newspapers, magazines: 209
Paper Fast food containers: 138
Metal lids, caps, pulls: 123
Batteries: 6
Diapers: 13
Condoms: 19
Tampons, tampon applicators: 5
Band aids, bandages: 16

Watch a brief video of faculty member Lollie Ragana announce CSULA's adoption of a beach.