News

Volunteer Coordinator Emily Fritz and water-quality intern Tierney Reardon pulled a record amount of trash from the Kinston trash trap on Wednesday.

The two removed 91 pounds of trash from the passive litter-collection device on Adkin Branch, which runs through the heart of Kinston. A total of 377 pounds have been trapped and removed from the trap since its installation in August 2023.

“Tierney and I took had a lot of interesting finds including a Christmas ornament, a Croc (shoe) sighting, and a lot of plastic bottles and Styrofoam,” Emily said. “We also spotted some frogs and snails hanging out near the trap.”

Emily attributed the large amount of trash to heavy rain over the previous weekend.

The Kinston trash trap is the fourth installed on waterways in the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds as part of Sound Rivers’ Litter-Free Rivers program. Traps are also located on Jack’s Creek in Washington, Duffyfield Canal in New Bern, Little Rock Creek in Raleigh and Greensmill Run in Greenville. Two more trash traps are in the works for Raleigh and, potentially, Tarboro.

The next Kinston trash trap cleanouts will be held at 10 a.m. on June 12 and June 29. If you or your group are interested in volunteering for a trash trap cleanout, we’d love to have your help! Email emily@soundrivers.org!