Trash Trout

Wilmington Gets Its First Trash Trout Litter Collection Device

The Federation has offices in Ocean, Wanchese and Wrightsville Beach, N.C. To learn more, please visit nccoast.org or call (252) 393-8185.

Wilmington will install its first Trash Trout on Burnt Mill Creek on Friday, July 15. The passive litter collection device will be installed by Cape Fear River Watch in partnership with the Waterkeepers Carolina as part of a statewide plastics reduction effort funded by the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Environmental Enhancement Grant.

The Trash Trout is fabricated by Asheville Greenworks, an Asheville-based nonprofit, as part of their litter prevention program. The device is a large cage with a wide mouth that floats on pontoons. Booms are anchored upstream on each bank to direct floating debris into the mouth of the cage. Large pieces of floating trash and plastic are trapped inside the Trash Trout, while smaller organic matter passes through and fish and other aquatic wildlife pass below the device.

According to Eric Bradford, Asheville Greenworks’s Director of Operations, roadside littering accounts for approximately 75% of the trash in the nation’s waterways. “Each time it rains, trash is funneled through our storm drain systems directly into our creeks,” explains Bradford. “Since most municipal stormwater systems lack filters or other mechanisms to keep the trash from entering our waterways, these Trash Trouts are necessary tools for our communities to clean up our rivers.”

The Trash Trouts are part of Cape Fear River Watch’s larger microplastics program. Learn more at capefearriverwatch.org.