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In honor of World Water Day, Sound Rivers, the City of Raleigh and The Great Raleigh Cleanup held a ribbon cutting last week for two trash traps located on Marsh Creek in Raleigh.

“We originally installed these trash traps in October, but we wanted to wait a little bit so we could highlight how well the trash traps have been working on Marsh Creek,” said Emily Fritz, Sound Rivers’ volunteer coordinator. “It was also a great way to celebrate World Water Day, and get together with The Great Raleigh Cleanup and the City of Raleigh to celebrate this partnership.”

Since the two trash traps were installed on Marsh Creek, more than 3,000 pounds of trash have been removed from Marsh Creek, courtesy of The Great Raleigh Cleanup and WorkForce, a program providing meaningful employment opportunities to Raleigh residents experiencing homelessness.

The Marsh Creek trash traps add to Sound Rivers’ fleet of 10 passive litter-collection devices located on urban waterways across the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds — all part of the environmental nonprofit’s Litter-Free Rivers program. The City of Raleigh and The Great Raleigh Cleanup partnered with Sound Rivers to install the traps on Marsh Creek, in a joint effort to remove litter from waterways before it reaches the Neuse River.

Though a rainy day in Raleigh, Engineering Specialist Joyce Gaffney and Engineering Supervisor Heather Dutra, both with Raleigh Stormwater Management-Engineering Services, Preston Ross II, founder of The Great Raleigh Cleanup, and program manager Kayley Cross, Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop and Emily gathered on the banks of Marsh Creek, off Stony Brook Drive, to hold the official ribbon cutting.

“Then Preston got in the water with waders on, and demonstrated how the trash trap works,” Emily said, adding that volunteers for trash trap cleanouts are always welcome. “If anyone wants to join a cleanup, they can reach out to us or The Great Raleigh Cleanup, and we’ll get them out in the creek and cleaning up the water.”

Want to volunteer for a trash trap cleanout? Find one near you.

Find out more about Sound Rivers’ Adopt A Trash Trap program here.

See the WRAL coverage of the event here.