News

Neuse Riverkeeper Samantha Krop was on Marsh Creek this week, tossing plastic bottles in the water.

And she wasn’t the only one.

The event was an official release of bottles armed with GPS trackers to track how far and how fast the bottles move, gathering data on how local litter travels through the waterways.

“It was a good turnout from a big coalition. There were folks from N.C. State University, The Great Raleigh Cleanup, the City of Raleigh, Sea Grant,” Samantha said.

The research is part of a larger project helmed by N.C. State’s Dr. Barbara Doll and doctoral student Madison Haley, studying trash and the impacts of macro- and microplastics in the water. Sound Rivers is one partner in the study: one of three Litter-Free Rivers’ trash traps on Marsh Creek provides source material for the kind of litter that ends up urban waterways.

“The bottle release is expanding the study by showing how far macroplastics make it in our creeks and how quickly,” Samantha said. “They did an earlier bottle release in April, and just a few weeks, those bottles had made it to Clayton, 25 miles away.”

People encountering the bottles are encouraged to report their find. A QR code on each bottle makes it an easy task. Since they do have GPS trackers, all bottles will be tracked for as long as they’re moving, and retrieved when they stop.

“It’s really about how far they get and how they’re degrading, breaking down and shedding microplastics. In my mind, it will really show the impact of just one bottle on our environment,” Samantha said.

You can track the bottles here!

Watch the WRAL report on the bottle release here.

Like Sound Rivers’ partnering in research? We do, because we love to facilitate important research! Donate today to support Sound Rivers’ partnerships!