Highland Park hosted a community cleanup based out of the Highland Park Senior Center Sept. 14. Kevin de León, Councilmember for District 14, said the event was hosted by his office in effort to normalize composting, shed light on the importance of green spaces, beautify the community and connect community members.
“This is a part of the community engagement here in Highland Park,” de León said.
According to de León’s website, the area has seen issues with trash and a high homeless population — but improvements to the area have resulted in lowered crime rates, increased number of restaurants and community diversity. Building parks in especially underserved neighborhoods, along with planting trees and increasing shade, are further priorities of de León’s office, according to their website. De León said that beyond enhancing the quality of life for residents, another reason his office hosted the event was to provide relief to the city system.
“The city is so overwhelmed by budget cuts, so we have community volunteers come out and we do these cleanups,” de León said.
Highland Park community member Mark Forbes said that he lived nearby and chose to volunteer at the cleanup.
“I walked around my block, which is just a few blocks from here, and I picked up 13 pounds of trash on my block alone,” Forbes said.
Information about composting, free mulch bags and compost bins were provided at the cleanup by LA Sanitation. According to their website, LA Sanitation now facilitates a mandated citywide curbside organics program where residents of LA are required to place organic matter in their green bins, which are later processed and sent to farmers in order to keep food waste out of landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
According to Occidental professor of Biology, Shana Goffredi, composting mitigates the production of methane gas, an extremely potent greenhouse gas that can trap more heat than carbon dioxide.
“Less methane likely results from active composting of food waste — compared to stagnant landfills — because composting keeps the process more aerobic, meaning with oxygen present,” said Goffredi.
De León said that most community members are not used to composting their food waste yet, and that they aren’t aware of the risks associated with methane gas. He said that along with the tools he brought for everyone to use at the cleanup, he distributed compost kits for participants to take home. According to de León, he hopes the new generation in particular will create momentum with prioritizing the proper disposal of organic matter.
“We try to always give out the kits and hopefully over time it will normalize,” de León said.
According to de León’s website, de León and his staff gave away trees supplied by North East Trees, whom the office works with on an annual basis. North East Trees is a nonprofit working towards increasing green spaces, according to their website. De León said working closely with the senior center is just one of their outreach strategies.
“We do this numerous times a year,” de León said.
Clara Solis was also present at the cleanup. Solis said that she is proud to be a community member in Highland Park, and that she feels passionate about volunteering her time to help. According to Solis, cleanups are important because community members are bettering the environment for themselves and well as for others.
“When you have your neighborhood clean, and especially when we have our seniors coming here, we want it nice for them,” Solis said. “People will feel pride in their community and feel ownership of their community.”
Contact Cali Carter at ccarter2@oxy.edu
