Author: Heather Deck
Litter-Free Rivers
April 11, 2025
From individual trash traps to a much larger concept — Litter-Free Rivers.
Sound Rivers officially launched its Litter-Free Rivers program in 2023, a year after installing the first trash trap on Jack’s Creek in Washington.
“Litter-Free Rivers was named for one simple reason: to relay the goal we have for the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico rivers when it comes to trash and plastic pollution,” said Sound Rivers Executive Director Heather Deck. “Research has evolved so much in recent years, and we are now getting a pretty good glimpse into the harmful impacts trash has on our waterways — not only from a public health standpoint, but also a water-recreation safety standpoint. Our rivers should be fishable, swimmable and drinkable, and we can’t achieve that without addressing our litter pollution problem.”
In less than two years, Sound Rivers has grown the Litter-Free Rivers fleet to 10 trash traps on urban waterways across the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds. Each year, Sound Rivers staff, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, remove tons of trash from these traps — and your waterways.
About Trash Traps
Trash traps are passive litter-collection devices that are anchored to the banks of small, urban waterways. The buoy-lined anchor wires direct trash floating downstream into the mouth of the trap, where it remains until staff and/or volunteers pull it out to dispose of it in its proper place: a landfill.
Locations for trash traps are carefully scouted because not all waterways are good fits. The depth of water, how fast the water flows, accessibility to the site and how much trash is funneled into that waterway are just a few considerations when picking the ideal location for a trash trap.
Trash Trap Locations
Litter-Free Rivers was spurred by a statewide study on microplastics: where they come from, how they get in our waterways, how long it takes them to break down, and more. Since its launch, the litter traps have caught on. Sound Rivers has continued to grow Litter-Free Rivers in partnership with the cities of Washington, New Bern, Raleigh, Kinston, Greenville and Tarboro. Sound Rivers’ participation in microplastic research continues with one of three trash traps now located on Marsh Creek in Raleigh, operated in partnership with N.C. State University researchers.
Other Litter-Free Rivers trash traps are located on Jack’s Creek and an unnamed tributary of Jack’s Creek in Washington, Duffyfield Canal in New Bern, Little Rock Creek and Marsh Creek in Raleigh, Adkin Branch in Kinston, Greens Mill Run in Greenville and East Tarboro Canal in Tarboro.
An 11th trash trap is on its way, with the recent approval of a trash trap for Little Creek by the Clayton City Council.
Litter-Free Volunteering
Trash trap cleanouts are hosted monthly across the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds, and we’re always looking for a few good volunteers to don some waders and climb in the creeks to retrieve trash the traps have collected!
Sometimes there’s not a whole lot of trash; other times, especially after a big rain, a single trap can net up to 150 pounds of garbage. While the most common finds are plastic bottles and Styrofoam pieces, there’s always something rather uncommon that makes its way into the trap: shoes, Christmas ornaments, toys, athletic gear and more — if it can be carried by stormwater, it can end up in the water!
Adopt A Trash Trap
Sound Rivers also launched the Adopt A Trash Trap program in 2024, giving groups the opportunity to participate in keeping their waterways litter-free by signing up for a month of monitoring a trap, organizing clean-outs and reporting how much trash is removed. Groups aren’t defined in any way: it could be a student group, a civic group or even a group of friends.
Sound Rivers supplies everything you need to do the job, provides up to five T-shirts for your group and shares your good work via social media.
Litter-Free Partners
Litter-Free Rivers provides an opportunity to see just how much trash ends up in even small waterways, and for those concerned about it to do something by volunteering to monitor and/or clean out the traps.
“The program has been extremely successful to date. We hope to expand to other urban areas over the next five years by finding key partnerships, which will allow us to build connections with local communities, both with community-led groups and municipal partnerships,” Heather said.
Some of those partnerships include The Great Raleigh Cleanup, the Walnut Creek Wetland Community Partnership, Mother Earth Brewing and Lincoln City Rising.
“Sound Rivers can’t do this work alone, and building bridges into communities with partnerships results in an ever-expanding network of clean-water advocates, or activists,” Heather said.
Grady-White Boats and the Winston Family Foundation are sponsors of Sound Rivers’ Litter-Free Rivers program.
If you’re interested in sponsoring or supporting Litter-Free Rivers, we’d love to have your help! Email Development Coordinator Jay Potter at jay@soundrivers.org.
Water Watch trainings a hit
April 10th 2025
New Bern Garden Club gets stormwater education
April 10th 2025
Riverkeepers scouts Raleigh wetlands
April 10th 2025
Trash trap cleanout a scouting adventure
April 10th 2025
Army Corps responds to Sound Rivers wetland tip
April 10th 2025
NCDEQ pulls Blounts Creek permit, replaces it with 2013 version
April 10th 2025
Public input: Southeast Durham Watershed Improvement Plan
April 3rd 2025
Riverkeeper joins flood-resiliency advisory board
April 3rd 2025
New podcast episode: 'What About Wetlands?'
April 3rd 2025
Water Watch Trainings
March 17, 2025
Water Watch Trainings
Sign up today!
Want to be a part of Sound Rivers’ Water Watch team?
At Water Watch training, you’ll be trained in the field to collect scientific observations about water quality, flooding, erosion, habitat and more. After training, you’ll pick a site and visit it at least once a month to collect observational data, filling out a form to share with your Riverkeepers. And we’ll host quarterly Water Watch meet-ups where you can share your observations with Sound Rivers’ Riverkeepers and your Water Watch community!
Your Riverkeeping team will be hosting more trainings in the fall. If you’re interested in becoming a Water Watcher, fill out the form below, and we’ll keep you updated on when a Water Watch training will be near you! (In the comments section, let us know if you have a specific location you’d like to monitor.)
Hope to see you at a Water Watch training soon!
Water Watch trainings a hit
April 10th 2025
New Bern Garden Club gets stormwater education
April 10th 2025
Riverkeepers scouts Raleigh wetlands
April 10th 2025
Trash trap cleanout a scouting adventure
April 10th 2025
Army Corps responds to Sound Rivers wetland tip
April 10th 2025
NCDEQ pulls Blounts Creek permit, replaces it with 2013 version
April 10th 2025
Public input: Southeast Durham Watershed Improvement Plan
April 3rd 2025
Riverkeeper joins flood-resiliency advisory board
April 3rd 2025
New podcast episode: 'What About Wetlands?'
April 3rd 2025
Water Watch
February 12, 2025
Water Watch
Monitoring your waterways!
Have you ever wanted to be part of a Riverkeeping team? Do you have a favorite creek, stream or section of the river that you keep an eye on?
Sound Rivers needs YOU to help us monitor your waterways!
WATCH OUR WATER WATCH INTRO VIDEO HERE!
Sound Rivers’ Neuse and Pamlico-Tar Riverkeepers need your to help keep an eye on our waterways by signing up for Water Watch, a new community-science program!
The Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds cover a lot of land … and water — two rivers, 928,052 acres of estuary, 5,909 miles of streams and 21,423 acres of freshwater lakes across 12,210 square miles of North Carolina.
Sound Rivers’ Riverkeepers have a lot of watershed to pay attention to, and since they can’t be everywhere at once, they rely heavily on community members to let them know when things are wrong on the water.
That’s why Water Watch was created: Sound Rivers knows the value of community members who are engaged in keeping your waterways safe. Water Watchers are community scientists that keep an eye on the waterways by collecting basic observational data about river health, which informs your Riverkeepers, in real time, about the condition of the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico waterways and flags any pollution concerns.
Water Watch Trainings
Water Watchers are trained in the field to collect scientific observations about water quality, flooding, erosion, habitat and more. With the help of Water Watch volunteers, your Riverkeepers can monitor and protect more stream miles in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds, and help grow a volunteer base of community members who are trained and knowledgeable about water-quality science.
So, what’s it take to be a Water Watcher?
- You’ll attend a Water Watch training, where volunteers are trained in the field to collect scientific observations about water quality, flooding, erosion, habitat and more.
- You’ll pick a site and visit it at least once a month to collect observational data, using your senses to determine the general health of the waterway and spot potential pollution issues. Do you see blue-green water or an unusual number of dead fish? It could be an algal bloom. Do you smell sewage? It might be a sewage spill.
- You’ll fill out a field form to share these observations during each visit, then send that form to your Riverkeepers.
- We’ll also host quarterly Water Watch meet-ups where you can share your observations with Sound Rivers’ Riverkeepers and other volunteers.
If you are passionate about water quality and looking for a way to give back to your watershed and community, sign up for Water Watch — it’s community-led science in the name of water quality!
Water Watch trainings a hit
April 10th 2025
New Bern Garden Club gets stormwater education
April 10th 2025
Riverkeepers scouts Raleigh wetlands
April 10th 2025
Trash trap cleanout a scouting adventure
April 10th 2025
Army Corps responds to Sound Rivers wetland tip
April 10th 2025
NCDEQ pulls Blounts Creek permit, replaces it with 2013 version
April 10th 2025
Public input: Southeast Durham Watershed Improvement Plan
April 3rd 2025
Riverkeeper joins flood-resiliency advisory board
April 3rd 2025
New podcast episode: 'What About Wetlands?'
April 3rd 2025
Current Action Alerts
September 25, 2024
Current Action Alerts
Make your voice heard!
Your voice can make a difference in the fight to stop pollution. Sound Rivers’ Action Alerts are set up to make it super-easy for you to weigh in on what matters to you. Since you’ve landed here, we already know you care about the health of your waterways — waterways that belong to YOU, not polluters. Here’s an opportunity to make your voice heard, whether you’re weighing in on permit being considered, ineffective regulations contributing to pollution or legislation that will codify harms to your waterways into law.
Sound Rivers’ Action Alerts are pre-written, but you can always add your own comments to the draft message, or even delete the draft message altogether and make it wholly your own. All that’s needed is your name and email address (occasionally, an Action Alert will ask for your physical address, solely to identify which elected official your email will be sent to).
If Sound Rivers has not created an Action Alert for any listing below, contact and other relevant information is available.
Bridge Harbor Marina, Washington
Public comments sought for CAMA permit application
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality is accepting comments on a CAMA permit application for the construction of a marina at the southern base of the U.S. Highway 17 Business bridge in Washington. The proposed marina will have 133 boat slips, stick-built and floating docks, bulkhead, boardwalk, a boat ramp and boat lifts. The permit application is a scaled-down version of a project proposed in 2021 (read about the original project here). Sound Rivers is evaluating potential impacts and will comment in the near future.
For more information about the scope of this project, the Division of Coastal Management’s field report can be viewed HERE, and the permit application HERE.
Those who wish to comment can send an email to ashley.grandy@deq.nc.gov and Wayne.Hall@deq.nc.gov. Comments will be accepted up until the decision date, which will likely be “towards the 75-day review deadline for the project,” according to NCDEQ staff.
Durham: Lick Creek
Durham must adopt stronger ordinances to stop sediment pollution
We need your help to protect Durham’s water quality!
Despite new regulations, new sprawling developments continue to pollute Durham’s waterways, and the Falls Lake drinking water supply downstream.
Large-scale land clearing developments are turning Durham’s rivers a “tomato soup” shade of muddy. For over two years, in partnership with community members, Sound Rivers has been documenting sediment runoff from active construction sites polluting streams and creeks. Southeast Durham’s most heavily developing Lick Creek watershed has regularly seen levels of sediment ten and twenty times over the state of North Carolina’s standard for healthy waterways. Ellerbe Creek at the heart of Durham has also gained attention for running orange since the start of this year due to runoff from a large development at its headwaters. All of the waterways in Durham’s Neuse River basin flow directly into Falls Lake, a drinking water supply for half a million total people.
The problem is that Durham’s Sediment and Erosion Control regulations have not yet caught up with the rapid scale of growth. In response to public outcry about Durham’s tomato soup creeks, Durham officials have adopted some measures to strengthen S&EC practices. However, we have not seen evidence that these new measures are working to prevent mud from polluting Durham’s public waterways.
We need your help to tell Durham’s City Council that enough is enough — Durham must adopt stronger protections for its waterways before annexing more large-scale land clearing developments in its sensitive watersheds! Lend your voice to this call to action!
Write your email to Durham city councilmembers here!
Read more about this issue on this page.
Want to learn more about sediment pollution in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds? Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop breaks the problem down in our Sound Rivers: Riverkeeping Tales from the Neuse & Tar-Pamlico” podcast. Look for the episode, “Muddied Waters” here. The podcast can also be found by searching for keyword “riverkeeping” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music.
Adopt a Trash Trap!
September 19, 2024
Adopt a Trash Trap
Want to do something good for your waterways? Adopt a Trash Trap!
Adopting a trash trap gives groups the chance to sign up for a month of monitoring the amount of trash collected by a trash trap, organizing clean-outs and participate in keeping local waterways clean. Groups aren’t defined in any way: it could be a student group, a civic group or even a group of friends.
Trash trap adopters will be responsible for monitoring the trap, cleaning it out at least once (or more if there’s a big storm), weighing the trash, then disposing of it, taking pictures and sending Emily photos and data. In return, Sound Rivers will promote the group on social media and provide up to five Sound Rivers shirts to the group.
Sound Rivers will supply waders, gloves, trash grabbers, trash bags and a scale for weighing the trash.
View and/or download the Adopt A Trash Trap handbook, checklist and data form by clicking on the links below!
Resources
Our handbook has everything you need to know about adopting a trash trap. View or download the PDF by clicking on the image!
Thank You
June 25, 2024
Thank You
Thank You!
Thanks for reaching out to us. We will be in touch with you.