Hi! My name is Kiara Ganther. I am a third-year student at Dickinson College studying Environmental Science. I am from Los Angeles, California and have lived there my whole life until I left home for college. Being at Dickinson has been such a wonderful journey for me! I have had the best experiences and opportunities. Recently, I just came back from studying abroad in Turks and Caicos studying Marine Biology. I spent a lot of time snorkeling, identifying organisms, swimming, and studying. I love the outdoors and traveling to new places that push me out of my comfort zone. In the past I had the opportunity to go camping in Alabama for a week for a class trip and I enjoyed every second of it. Although I love being outside and doing outdoor activities, in my heart I love city life.
Due to my countless memories and the fact that my family and friends remain there, I consider Los Angeles (LA) to be my home. The immense amount of culture and diversity found in Los Angeles have greatly impacted my own values and culture. My home is located in a smaller part of LA in a neighborhood called Glassell Park. It is a historically Latino community but many people of different backgrounds including myself reside there. The neighborhood is packed with houses and apartments. My family and a lot of my neighbors have lived there for generations.
I was never fully aware on how to be sustainable until I moved to Pennsylvania for college and had the opportunity to learn more about it. Sustainability has not been a big part of my home culture. A lot of the ways we were sustainable in my home was because we were trying to limit the cost of bills. It was never fully acknowledged in my home or school that our daily activities should be altered to protect the environment. But, today my family and I try to limit consumption, use LED lights, go on more walks, etc.
As a city, many elected officials have become more aware and are trying to become more sustainable but Los Angeles has so many societal issues to solve that sustainability is often overlooked. I have learned in order to make a change regarding sustainability in my city, I had to start at a personal scale. I decided to reach out to a non-profit organization called Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR) about becoming more involved with restoration of the Los Angeles River. The next summer I was able to intern with FoLAR for a couple of months and worked on creating awareness about preserving the Los Angeles River in my neighborhood through weekly cleanups.
Los Angeles will forever be my home<3
Leen Jadallah February 5, 2023
Thank you Kiara for this cute blog about LA. I am also from the city so I completely understand how sustainability can be easily overlooked despite recent efforts. I love how you are helping the environment by trying to make change in such a famous city like LA. It has been one of my dreams to visit actually since I was a child. I want to ask you, what made you want to go to study marine biology since your home town is LA? Also, what are your plans when it comes to jobs in this field?
Haydi February 5, 2023
greetings Kiara Ganther, Thank you for your blog i noticed many interesting change, los angeles though sure looks like an amazing home. i was actually excited in reading your response to what los Angeles feels like to a person that considers it home as I’ve been there for vacation to visit my uncle and he clearly loves it as much as you do. I personally believe that it takes so much energy, strength and confidence as if it was me in your place i would find it extremely hard to adapt to these changes like if i were to move now from the United Arab Emirates to another country for university i don’t know how i would’ve managed it. Last thing i would like to address is you have an amazing understanding as well as care to the environment and a will to make our world a better place with just clean energy and no wastes anymore specially for the river. Its is amazing how you love your hometown so much that you’ve decided to reach out to an organization to cancel out any more wastes in the river there. For future references, do you think the river will finally be waste -free , or will people just keep overlooking the problems they’ve caused? Also, was it hard when you and your family started limiting consumption ? I know i would find it extremely difficult here in the United Arab Emirates.
Once again Kiara it was amazing reading your blog!
Alyazi Al Khemeiri February 5, 2023
Hello Kiara Ganther, my name is Alyazi Al Khemeiri from Abu Dhabi, UAE. I’ve been going to LA every summer with my family ever since I could remember. I haven’t been there since 2018 but I would love to come back and see what changed around the city. To be honest I haven’t been educated about LA locals and how they lived life. I’ve always been part of LA where they romanticize it with trendy places and sunny beaches. And remembering how LA was, it wasn’t really sustainable, maybe it is now, but I don’t recall any environmentally friendly things going on. I really respect you for helping the environment and trying to make a change. It’s really rare to find someone that is willing to do that and that has the hope to make our world a better place. I hope to come back to LA and see the wonderful places again. And I would love to know, would you come and visit the UAE? And where would you visit first?