Source: Community Science
When plastic waste enters waterways, it can endanger aquatic animals, damage habitats, and splinter into tiny pieces that may affect ecosystems for centuries to come.
One tool used to collect and study the trash found in bodies of water is the trash trap—an anchored floating device that funnels trash toward an enclosed collection area. Between 2021 and 2024, seven North Carolina Waterkeepers organizations installed 21 trash traps in streams around the state, periodically cleaning them out and collecting the contents. Lauer et al. analyzed the products of these cleanouts…