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Clayton’s first trash-trap cleanout brought out a crowd last Saturday.

The Clayton trash trap was installed on Little Creek in May, and the response to becoming a part of the Litter-Free Rivers program has been great, according to Volunteer Coordinator Emily Fritz.

“We had a fantastic turnout of around 20 people for the first cleanout, and we removed 175 pounds of trash from the trap and the creek,” she said.

These volunteers’ impact will continue in the coming months, as three separate groups have adopted the trash trap for a month of monitoring and cleanouts: Scout Troop 124, students from Johnston County Early College Academy and employees from Stormwater Operations Specialists.

“We had a number of students involved in Saturday’s cleanup, and it was amazing to see so many people from the Clayton community coming out to help take care of Little Creek,” Emily said.  

Interesting finds during the cleanup included a bike and a shopping cart, both dumped in the creek.

Adopting a trash trap gives groups the chance to sign up for a month of monitoring the trap and the amount of trash collected, organize 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. Sound Rivers supplies waders, gloves, trash grabbers, trash bags and a scale for weighing the trash.

If your group would be interested in adopting a trash trap in your area, email Emily at emily@soundrivers.org. Find out more about the Adopt a Trash trap program here!

Sound Rivers’ trash traps — part of its Litter-Free Rivers program — are located in Raleigh, Clayton, Kinston, Tarboro, Greenville, New Bern and Washington.

If you’re interested in volunteering for a trash-trap cleanout, visit our volunteer signup here!