LA County Beaches, Still a Bummer

Heal the Bay released their annual California Beach Report Card earlier today. No surprise, but LA county beaches dominated the list of Top 10 "Beach Bummers" with the worst water quality in the state.

One of our organization's primary goals is to help prevent the runoff of the interior parts of the cities from reaching our city's beaches. The release of Heal the Bay's study demonstrates why it is essential to take care of our cities and beaches. If there is a silver lining to the study, it is the following statement in Heal the Bay's press release:

"One of the reasons that Los Angeles County lags in water quality is the fact that its monitoring agencies collect samples directly in front of flowing stormdrains and creeks. Monitoring at these 'point zero' locations, where polluted runoff often pools, is the best way to ensure that health risks to swimmers are captured in water quality data."

The LAist points out that some of the beaches listed below, however, are "nowhere near storm drains," such as Avalon Beach on Catalina Island.

Top 10 Beach Bummers

1. Avalon Harbor Beach on Catalina Island (Los Angeles County)
2. Cabrillo Beach harborside (Los Angeles County)
3. Pismo Beach Pier (San Luis Obispo County)
4. Colorado Lagoon (Los Angeles County)
5. Santa Monica Municipal Pier (Los Angeles County)
6. City of Long Beach at LA River outlet (Los Angeles County)
7. Poche Beach (Orange County)
8. Surfrider Beach at Malibu Creek (Los Angeles County)
9. Campbell Cove State Park Beach (Sonoma County)
10. Doheny Beach at San Juan Creek (Orange County)

Heal the Bay's full report card available here.

Virgil Ave Clean Up Sunday May 17

Please join us this Sunday, May 17th to clean up the area where the LA Neighborhood Clean Up Project first got its start (for some LANCUP history, click here)-- Virgil and Melrose! We will meet at 10 a.m. at the corner of Melrose and Virgil (Map).

Look out for us, we will be in the green t-shirts. We will bring the supplies and Tang's donuts, we just need you! Friends, families, pets, and kids of all ages welcome.

We also hear that there is a new record store/barbeque spot at Bellevue and Hoover, right around the corner, which may be work checking out after.

Where does all that trash go?

You may have always wondered...sure, I see those signs "drains to the ocean." Where does it go when it drains to the ocean though? Well, there is a "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a huge region in the middle of the Pacific Ocean where all of the trash eventually ends up due to a combination of winds and tides. You can read more about it here.

Also, if you want to see a documentary that was aired on Good Morning America you can watch below. Remember, be careful with your trash!

April 25 Echo Park Wrap Up!

Just wanted to say a big thank you to everybody who came out to lend a hand to our Echo Park clean up this past Saturday. It was a great event and we got fantastic whether. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces along with a number of new ones! We are glad that we have developed such a great group of people in Echo Park and we hope that some of you will join us at other events around town!

Yeah, we are putting the cutest picture first, kids helping always makes for the best pictures!


John with George from the city...he looks very happy about the shovels...very happy:



Two of our great returning volunteers, seriously Tommy we will get you a t-shirt!


Chris and Holly showing off the immense size of the city trash bags:


John is pointing at something here...not really sure what!:


Here is a picture of our unofficial mascot "Salsa"...why is that his name? "Because people like to say Salsa"...:

A picture of the trash gathered in the back of the city truck...thanks George!:

Reminder! Echo Park Clean Up on April 25!

Join the LA Neighborhood Clean Up Project at 10 AM on April 25 in Echo Park for a (post) Earth Day clean up!!! We know Earth Day is actually April 22, but we thought we would make it easier on everybody to take the time to show up. We are meeting at the corner of Sunset and Echo Park Blvd, in the Walgreens parking lot. As always, we will provide donuts from Tang's!

You can sign up on our USA Service website: http://www.usaservice.org/page/event/detail/4rxyg

Check it out and sign up!

As always, you can also follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LANCUP

Future Clean Up Projects in Los Angeles

Do you know an area that could use a clean up? Do you want to help organize a clean up in your neighborhood or with your street? Are you looking for an office volunteer project? Or do you just want to lend a helping hand?

Feel free to let us know any time as we are always willing to help out with planning and coordinating events across the city of Los Angeles! Just feel free to e-mail at lacleanup@gmail.com

Silver Lake Earth Day Event

The Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce is holding an Earth Day event in Triangle Park at the corner of Griffith Park Blvd and Sunset Blvd...check it out, we are planning on stopping by!

Who: Silver Lake Chamber Green Committee

What: The Silver Lake Chamber of Commerce Green Committee will create a ball made of nearly 6,000 plastic bags--an estimate of the number of plastic bags Silver Lake stores use in a month--on Earth Day Wednesday, April 22 from 10 am to 4 pm. The plastic bags will be tied and wound into a giant ball by volunteers. The Earth Day Plastic Ball will be available to local schools and environmental groups to promote waste reduction and protecting our environment from the blight of plastic bags. Members of the public are urged to bring discarded plastic bags to the event.

When: Wednesday April 22 - 10 am to 4 pm (Earth Day)

Where: Sunset Junction Triangle Park 3700 Sunset Blvd (north side of street between Edgecliff and Maltman Ave)