About the Trash trout
MountainTrue uses the Trash Trout to collect single-use plastic waste samples along Winkler Creek — a tributary of the New River that flows through the Town of Boone.
Today's single-use plastic litter is the source of tomorrow's microplastic pollution in the Town of Boone, as well as the streams, creeks and rivers running through it.
Nonprofit partners Asheville GreenWorks and MountainTrue are installing Trash Trouts in WNC's streams and tributaries most impacted by plastic pollution.
Fabricated by Asheville GreenWorks as part of their litter prevention program, each device includes a large cage with a wide mouth that floats on pontoons. Booms are anchored upstream on each bank to direct large pieces of floating debris into the mouth of the cage. Smaller organic matter passes through the Trash Trout while fish and other aquatic wildlife pass below the device.
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4662:
Total number of littered items collected by the Trash Trout across ten clean outs from June to November 2021.
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466:
Average number of littered items collected during each Trash Trout clean out from June to November 2021.
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86.4%
Of all littered items collected by the Trash Trout were made of single-use plastic.