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Great turnout, lots of trash in Kinston

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

Posted on January 25th, 2024

Volunteers donned waders and hopped into Adkin Branch to clean out a large amount of garbage collected by the trash trap.

Sound Rivers Volunteer Coordinator Emily Fritz was back in Kinston this week, assisting volunteers from Mother Earth Brewing and Lincoln City Rising with another clean-out of the trash trap on Adkin Branch, in the heart of the city.

The Adkin Branch trash trap is one of four passive litter-catching devices Sound Rivers has installed on waterways in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico, as part of its Litter-Free Rivers program.

“We had a great turnout and were able to expand the clean-up along the banks and down the creek, filling up over five giant trash bags,” Emily said.

Since water in the creek was higher than usual, volunteers checked the depth with long sticks before foraying into the water.

“We had to make sure we didn’t swamp our waders. With this improvised method, we all stayed dry,” Emily laughed.

The next Kinston trash trap clean-out will be Feb. 28 at 2 p.m. More volunteers are always welcome! If you’re interested, email emily@soundrivers.org.

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Volunteers combed the Adkin Branch and its banks for trash on Tuesday.
One interesting find in Adkin Branch. Many times, wind events can blow items such as this into nearby waterways.
Tuesday’s haul from the Adkin Branch trash trap.

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