Trash traps keep plastic bottles from floating downstream

When it rains in Atlanta, trash and other nastiness flow into creeks and streams. That's where trash traps come in.

How it works: Trash traps use booms to funnel floating plastic bottles, styrofoam and other garbage into a collection area.

• The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper staff and volunteers clean out the traps — which are designed not to affect aquatic wildlife or hydrology — every week.

What's happening: The nonprofit maintains 13 of the nifty contraptions — including the one above in Tanyard Creek — in four counties.

By the numbers: They started using the traps in 2019. Since then the devices — they've deployed Osprey Initiative’s Litter Gitter and Storm Water Systems’ Bandalong Bandit — have collected more than 6,000 pounds of floating trash.

• Approximately 40% of the collected trash is recycled, the nonprofit told Axios.

The bottom line: Go easy on the traps by picking up trash in your neighborhood and on walks near waterways. It's not gonna pick itself up.