Trash Lifting with Chapman Sorority Gamma Phi Beta

Here at West Friends we like to acknowledge that beyond the evident ecological benefits of cleaning waste out of our natural environments there is a visual 'weight' that is lifted, hence the reference "trash lifting".

On the Friday following the April 22nd, 2021 Earth Day we continued the celebration of global stewardship for the world we love while taking in the expansive views of the Santa Monica Mountains with the Gamma Phi Beta sorority members from Chapman University as we gathered atop the mountains over Topanga Canyon overlooking the San Fernando Valley. We discussed the profound idea that where we stood was once a sea floor and there are marine mollusk fossils nearby to prove it. It doesn't take a whole lot of explaining to appreciate a place like this one, but once that personal connection is established the effort to remove the inconsiderately placed garbage is much more rewarding. 

Before we even made an entrance to the trailhead, the group was ambitious to start the trash lifting at the lookout parking area and filled about 3 trash bags, most of which fit inside the garbage bins located 20ft away 🙄.

We then made our way on the trail and were able to appreciate a little hike without the constant confrontation with misplaced garbage. Once we reached the 'infamous' platform lookout covered in graffiti the group was taken by the views and couldn't help but snap a couple photos. It's easy to overlook all the garbage around the platform but the moment it caught the attention of Gamma Phi Beta they were ambitious to remove as much trash as possible.

Chapman University Gamm Phi Beta cleans the trash around Topanga Lookout with West Friends guides Kyle and Andy.

It may be hard to notice every little piece but a quick glimpse of this "Before & After" photo will give you an idea of the visual trash weight we lifted. Not to be misled, we did not remove any graffiti this time around. As much as we would prefer not to have graffiti in our beautiful natural habitats, this platform was manmade and less of a concern to clean the paint off of. The rocks and caves will require some cleaning effort and communication with those who graffiti them to help to recognize and encourage others to understand our shared responsibility to respect the natural landscape and protect the opportunity for our future generations to experience our natural beauty by expressing their artistic abilities elsewhere.  

All in all we packed out easily 100+ lbs of trash that filled the back of Andy's car and made us so proud and thankful to lift the burden of this waste from our beloved ecosystems. West Friends could not be more grateful for the efforts of the whole Gamma Phi Beta sorority of Chapman University. Their enthusiasm and willingness is thoroughly expressed in the end result of what we accomplished together. Shout out to Gamma Phi Beta's Community Service director Celine for organizing this with Andy, and to her fellow alumni Meaghan who made our connection possible. We also want to give a major thanks to our volunteer of the day Tatum for leading the way with her ambitious stewardship energy and serious effort in picking up A LOT of trash. This was all made possible because of their interest in taking care of what we love and our shared connection to the natural world. We are so moved knowing that a few more people in this world will be more conscious and considerate of our individual and collective impacts on the places we love. 

 

 💚 🌍  THANK YOU 🌎 💚