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Adkin Branch relieved of 70 lbs of trash

Environmental, Litter-Free Rivers, Neuse River Watershed, Sound Rivers, Stormwater Issues, Volunteer, Volunteers, Water Quality

Posted on May 2nd, 2024

Volunteers Lee Albritton and Stephen West wade into Adkin Branch to clear trash out of the trash trap.

The Adkin Branch trash trap got a clean-out this week, thanks to Lee Albritton from Lincoln City Rising and Sound Rivers volunteer Stephen West.

On Wednesday, the two met up with Volunteer Coordinator Emily Fritz at the Kinston waterway to remove 70 pounds of trash collected in the passive litter-trapping device. The Adkin Branch trash trap is one of five installed on urban waterways in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watershed, part of Sound Rivers’ Litter-Free Rivers program. Others are located on Jack’s Creek in Washington, Duffyfield Canal in New Bern, Little Rock Creek in Raleigh and Greens Mill Run in Greenville.

“As usual, we saw a lot of Styrofoam and plastic,” Emily said. “This time it was lots of plastic cups.”

A successful clean-out: 70 pounds of garbage removed from this urban waterway.

Since the Kinston trash trap was installed in August of 2023, nearly 300 pounds of trash have been captured and removed from the trap, preventing it from floating downstream into the Neuse River.

Would your group like to do a trash trap cleanout in Kinston, Raleigh, Greenville, Washington or New Bern? We’re happy to arrange it! Just email emily@soundrivers.org!

Lee Albritton explains that the purple box on the tree near the trash trap is a honey bee “swarm trap.” Once bees have moved into the trap, they will be safely moved to a new hive where they will thrive and make lots of honey! 

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