Listen to this segment | entire program

It may be hard to fathom a time when the long stretch of the Los Angeles River did not resemble a watery waste funnel. But at one point it was a thriving riparian ecosystem supporting a wide array of flora and fauna. With 90% of its course currently encased in concrete, this unnatural looking body of water has become littered with trash in the recent years. Phone booths, cushions, saunas, half-cars, a bloody Santeria sword, and even human skulls are all part of a bizarre assortment recovered from the LA River at various times. But, according to a study by the Friends of the LA River, the river’s greatest foes are the lower-profile plastic bags, plastic wrappers and Styrofoam cups that litter it at all points.

A report by the Friends of the LA River, or FoLAR, cataloged the trash collected from the waterway between 2004 and 2011 in hopes of identifying the most common debris, how it got there, and how it could be reduced. The report found that plastic products are the most abundant trash item by volume at all sorting sites. At Fletcher Park, a stretch of river near Glendale, plastic bags comprised nearly 50% of the trash collected, and at Compton Creek in South LA, Styrofoam made up 41% of the trash.

This year marks the 23rd annual Great LA River cleanup and will take place this Saturday, April 28 at various sites along the river between Lake Balboa and Long Beach. Trash sorts at five locations will be conducted as well.

GUEST: Shelley Backlar, Executive Director of FoLAR

Visit www.folar.org to register for this year’s clean up. All participants will get a free T-shirt and a free reusable bag.