CLEANUP TIME\VOLUNTEERS PICK UP L.A. RIVER TRASH.

Byline: Erik Nelson Staff Writer

From the perspective of the average 15-year-old, it's fun. You get a shopping cart from the local grocery store, put it on the edge of the concrete channel of the Los Angeles River and ride down the steep incline, hoping you won't crack your skull.

That's according to teen-agers and environmentalists who helped haul a few shopping carts and other debris from the riverbed Saturday at the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area in Van Nuys.

About 100 volunteers helped pick up trash there as part of a larger effort organized by the Friends of Los Angeles River. The 11th annual cleanup event was held at 10 sites ranging from Tujunga Wash in Sunland to Griffith Park near Glendale to Queensway Bay at the river's Long Beach outlet. About 1,500 volunteers were expected overall.

Denis Schure, a Friends board member, said the cleanup was mostly symbolic, as he navigated his Kevlar whitewater canoe upstream. It's more a way of teaching people what happens to trash dropped on the street.

``The real issue is, people throw the debris in the streets and the parking lots and are not taking responsibility for where it ultimately goes,'' he said as the canoe floated past a Cheetos bag and a large submerged campaign placard.

Schure paddled beneath a native willow decorated like a Christmas tree with trash.

Caught by the branches during high water was a Lays chip bag, a microwaveable beef chimichanga wrapper, a Nestle ice cream bar wrapper and a plastic bag clumped together with a mat of dried beige algae.

Higher in the same tree, above the river bank, was a large black banner folded among the branches. A plastic newspaper bag hung nearby, along with some yellow ``caution'' tape.

``If this were cleaned up, it would be an incredible escape from the city,'' said Schure as the canoe pulled up to a low rock waterfall.

In the middle of the softly rushing waters, a corroded set of shopping cart legs jutted up. Along the southwest shore, six whole carts were visible, three of them a tangled mass of metal, trash and vegetation.

Although it helps for people to come out and pick up trash, Friends of the Los Angeles River hopes to encourage prevention with the event.

Ten members of the Youth Ministry of St. Jane Frances Roman Catholic Church pulled six shopping carts off the riverbank and put them into a big rolloff trash container in a parking lot near Balboa Boulevard.

``Shopping carts were all over the place,'' said group member Luis Flores, 16, of North Hollywood. ``And they had, like, a sofa up there.''

Luis estimated that it would take several days to clean up the mess, rather than the three hours allotted for Saturday's cleanup.

He also said he had seen children riding shopping carts into the river channels, and would ``think about it twice'' after seeing the results.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo: (1) Friends of the Los Angeles River organized its 11th annual cleanup effort, and hundreds of people volunteered.

(2) Volunteers pick up trash from the Los Angeles River in the Valley on Saturday.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer