May 3, 2023 - News

Trash traps keep plastic bottles from floating downstream

Thomas Wheatley

A photo of a creek with a device that filters bottles and other floating trash — The Bandalong Bandit trash trap on the job. Photo: Courtesy of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper

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.

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Trash traps keep plastic bottles from floating downstream

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