So many of us drive by it and see it in music videos, but hardly pay any attention to the real, live river in our own backyards. Luckily, Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR) sponsors this annual grand cleaning, a perfect chance to get to know your local waterway up close and personal.

This year it’s on Saturday, May 17th.

The River Clean Up is a chance to see the river and its inhabitants, get some fresh air, and most importantly, see the impact of plastic and the other junk we throw on the road when it flows through the streets, into catch basins, through the storm drain system, and into the river (where it’s carried out to sea).

Keep in mind that it isn’t just rain that carries junk out to the bay, but that even on a dry day in L.A. 100 million gallons of contaminated water can run through the storm drain system. What’s it from? Our outdoor water use like poorly aimed sprinklers and washing our cars in driveways. You can find out more about storm water in Los Angeles and what you can do about it (aside from not littering) from L.A.’s Stormwater Program here.

Here’s a rundown from what I collected last year from the river greenbelt in Atwater Village in just one hour: uncountable plastic bags, loads of Styrofoam pieces, packing peanuts, Cup Noodles, candy wrappers, cigarette butts, a bottle of Vitamin C, other miscellaneous bottles, and kids’ toys—enough stuff to fill two and a half large garbage bags.

And the items I couldn’t reach: Three shopping carts, two backpacks, a running shoe, a tarp, and a blow- up pool.

And the wildlife I saw: pigeons, swallows, some of which had brilliant blue backs, ducks (one kind with a turkey-like face), a heron, a hawk, a lizard, a dead raccoon, and five sandpipers.

Visit FoLAR online to choose from the 14 sites you can visit on the 17th. Don’t forget sunscreen, a hat, gloves, and some clothes and hardy shoes you don’t mind getting filthy.