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Raleigh Scouts got an introduction to the Little Rock Creek trash trap last week.

“This past Friday, Leah Purvis, the environmental educator from Wake Soil & Water Conservation District, and I led an amazing trash-trap cleanup at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center with an enthusiastic group of Scouts,” said Emily Fritz, Sound Rivers’ volunteer coordinator. “It was truly inspiring to see such enthusiasm from both the students and their parents, all eager to jump in and clean up Little Rock Creek!”

The Scouts outing was also an opportunity to talk about the creek’s ecosystem, how litter finds its way into the waterways and how long it takes plastic bottles and bags to break down in the water.

“We managed to pull an impressive 92.1 pounds of trash from the creek,” Emily said. “Among the debris were plenty of bottles, lighters, and even a cute stuffed animal that found its way into the mix.”

The Little Rock Creek trash trap is one of 10 passive litter-collection devices Sound Rivers has installed on urban waterways throughout the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds, as part of its Litter-Free Rivers program. The Litter-Free Rivers program launched with a Jack’s Creek, Washington, installation in May of 2022. Since, nine more trash traps have been added: on Duffyfield Canal in New Bern, Little Rock Creek in Raleigh, Adkin Branch in Kinston, Greens Mill Run in Greenville, East Tarboro Canal in Tarboro, three more were recently added on Marsh Creek in Raleigh (in partnership with the City of Raleigh, The Great Raleigh Cleanup and N.C. State University), as well as a second Washington trash trap on a small tributary of Jack’s Creek.

The next trash trap will be installed on Little Creek in Clayton in May.

If you or your group would be interested in working for water quality by volunteering to clean out a trash trap or Adopt a Trash Trap for a month, check out the following:

More information about the Adopt A Trash Trap program.

Find out when and where the next trash trap cleanouts are scheduled — we’d love to have your help! Volunteer here!

Like Sound Rivers’ ever-expanding Litter-Free Rivers program? We definitely do! Donate today to help Litter-Free Rivers grow!