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Trash-trap cleanouts are back to their regular schedule, assuring that the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico rivers are more Litter-Free Rivers.

At Walnut Creek Wetland Center’s annual Mud Day event — a hands-on celebration of nature — Sound Rivers’ partner The Great Raleigh Cleanup led a cleanout of the Little Rock Creek trash trap on Aug. 17, collecting a total of 80 pounds of trash. Sound Rivers gives a big shout out to The Great Raleigh Cleanup founder Preston Ross III and all of the volunteers who helped rid your rivers of garbage.

This week, Volunteer Coordinator Emily Fritz and Sound Rivers Executive Director tackled the Kinston trash trap on their own. The delay in cleaning out the full trash trap on Adkin Branch was caused by the controlled release of water from the Raleigh reservoir into the Neuse, a continuation of high water levels from the massive amount of rain delivered by Tropical Storm Debby in the second week of August.

Emily and Heather freed another 38 pounds of trash from the trap, which included the interesting finds of a Christmas ornament (in August) and a rubber ducky.

Part of Sound Rivers’ Litter-Free Rivers programs, these passive litter-collection devices are located on Jack’s Creek in Washington, Duffyfield Canal in New Bern, Greens Mill Run in Greenville, Adkin Branch in Kinston and Little Rock Creek in Raleigh. A sixth trash trap was recently approved by the Town of Tarboro, to be installed on East Tarboro Canal in the fall. Sound Rivers, in partnership with The Great Raleigh Cleanup and the City of Raleigh, is working toward the installation of three additional trash traps in the Marsh Creek watershed in Raleigh, and scouting for a potential trash trap location has started in Smithfield.

Would you like to volunteer to help make your rivers Litter-Free? We’d LOVE your help! Volunteer here!