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LOS ANGELES () — Juan Naula is inspiring residents to help clean Los Angeles, tackling piles of garbage with gloves, trash bags and a camera through his nonprofit organization, Clean L.A. With Me.
Naula moved to Los Angeles nearly two years ago and said he immediately noticed trash along the city’s streets, parks and alleys.
He says the conditions differ sharply from what he experienced in Virginia and Ecuador.
“I come from Virginia, where you don’t see trash on the streets, parks or alleys. I come from Ecuador also… It’s a third-world country, but it is way better than here. We don’t see trash there either. So when coming to L.A., you expect something else… You’re never going to expect seeing trash everywhere,” Naula said.
READ MORE: Recent LA transplant quits job, starts nonprofit to pick up trash across the city
After his initial L.A. dream fell through soon after moving here, Juan Eduardo Naula found meaning in cleaning up the streets of Los Angeles neighborhoods.
Naula began by purchasing trash bags from Home Depot and collecting garbage on his own. The effort soon became expensive.
“Every time when I go dump the trash, it’s $115. I used to do that every day, but now I do sometimes three to four days a week,” Naula said.
Naula eventually started the nonprofit Clean LA With Me. Other people began joining his cleanup efforts, while others donated money to help offset his costs.
Even with the additional support, the work can be frustrating. Naula recently returned to a tunnel he had cleaned only a few months earlier.
The pedestrian tunnel, which is meant to allow children to safely cross Soto Street, is permanently locked with a chain-link fence, but it is clearly in use and a danger to the community.
“This is really unhealthy for everybody. Not just for the people. You see we got a school right here. Right here. Soto Street Elementary School, and we have all this trash right here?” Naula said.
Naula gets hundreds of cleanup requests on his phone. Other residents contact him through direct messages on Instagram. His Clean L.A. With Me page has over 80,000 followers.
One user, who asked not to be identified, thanked Naula for his work but also criticized the city of Los Angeles for failing to collect garbage near the user’s home. Naula says he frequently hears similar complaints.
“The neighbor says, ‘Oh, I put in a request in 311 app, and it’s already five months, and they never show up.’ So that’s when I go and clean it, because 311 is not going to pick it up,” Naula said, adding that the city should be embarrassed. “More than embarrassed, because this is not a third-world country.”
The city declined a request for an interview about its 311 program and Naula’s cleanup work.
Naula said the accumulated garbage creates unhealthy conditions, including near a local school.
“This is really unhealthy for everybody. Not just for the people. You see, we have a school right here. Right here –Soto Street Elementary School, and we have all this trash right here?”
Despite repeatedly returning to areas he has already cleaned, Naula continues his mission and hopes Los Angeles will eventually join the effort.
Eyewitness News reached out to the city for an interview regarding Naula’s efforts and the performance of the 311 program. The city sent the following statement:
“LA Sanitation & Environment’s dedicated crews work day and night to respond to reports of illegal dumping. On average, reports of illegal dumping are addressed in 48-72 hours with proactive cleaning occurring routinely in known hot spot areas. Of the 80 service requests Mr. Naula has submitted through MyLA311 since its re-launch in March 2025, all have been addressed and closed.”
Naula says it seems for every case closed, another one opens.
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