A little over a year ago, Echo Park local Erin Fein was saddened to see trash piling up in her neighborhood, so she decided to do something about it.

With the help of the Nextdoor app and Instagram, Fein connected with others in her area and started a weekly trash pickup. The group is called the Echo Park Trash Club.

Even though Fein was discouraged by the increasing trash in the neighborhood, she realized that even a little help could come a long way.

"What I learned over time is to do the double glove, and then I can pick up the garbage just with my hands," she said. "The infrastructure either didn't exist or just wasn't functioning. And so I thought, well, I am a civic-minded person. And I thought, you know, maybe I could make a little dent. In June of last year, I put a post up on social media and did the first one at the end of July. I bought a bunch of trash grabbers. I bought a bunch of biodegradable trash bags, and we just started picking up trash. The first one was a really good turnout; I would say about a solid 25 people came to the first one. It shifts from week to week. It's gone up to 50 people and as small as maybe 10. But I've noticed that you can get so much done even if five people come."

The Echo Park Trash Club members have noticed that bystanders often get inspired by the group's work.

"People will see you doing it, they'll stop, they'll want to chat, and they'll want to get involved. It happens here all the time with us," said Echo Park Trash Club volunteer Isa Warith.

Along with encampment sites, the group also cleans up places where there are no encampments.

"When we do go, we go say hi to the people who are living there," Fein said. "We ask permission. We never remove housing structures or necessary items. If we see a pair of shoes, we set it aside if we see food, canned food, anything that seems like it might be useful. And the folks who are living outside, generally speaking, have nowhere to put their trash. They often don't even have bags for their trash. But when they do, they often get ripped open and picked through because sometimes there are things in the trash that are valuable to people. Generally speaking, they would love trash servicing."

While many people are bothered when they see piles of trash in their neighborhoods, Fein said there are reasons for all that waste.

"I think the trash is building up for a lot of different reasons, and therefore, to actually fix it, there are different solutions that we're going to have to implement," she said." The Trash Club is one aspect. Many people come very frustrated. There's some anger that people have towards folks who are living outside. And when they come, and they just get to speak to people, there's humanity that comes to the surface, and I believe it's creating more compassion, which is extremely important. I hope that the Echo Park Trash Club can be known for its compassionate perspective on a difficult issue."

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