News

Longtime Sound Rivers volunteers Christina Marshen and Dawn Dolson gave the Jack’s Creek trash trap a much-needed makeover this week.

Not only did the two remove 24 pounds of garbage from the trap, they also removed organic material growing into the trap and rehung the trash trap’s banner.

The Jack’s Creek trash trap was the first installed as part of Sound Rivers’ Litter-Free Rivers program. Nearly two tons of trash have been removed from the passive litter-collection device since then, preventing that trash from flowing downstream into the Pamlico River in Washington. So far this year, 346 pounds of trash have been taken out of this urban waterway.

Sound Rivers’ Litter-Free Rivers program has installed a fleet of 11 passive litter-collection devices on urban waterways throughout the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico watersheds. The Litter-Free Rivers program started with the Jack’s Creek, Washington trap and 10 more 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), a second Washington trash trap on a small tributary of Jack’s Creek and on Little Creek in the Town of Clayton.

The Town of Smithfield will be getting its own trash trap in early 2026.

Nearly 6 tons of trash have been removed from Litter-Free Rivers’ trash traps by an army of volunteers — a step in the right direction to make the Neuse and Tar-Pamlico litter-free.

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! Email emily@soundrivers.org.

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