Litter Getter

Litter Getter

Not merely a visual problem, litter poses risks to wildlife and contributes to chemical pollution as degrading plastics and other waste products leach harmful chemicals into the water. Communities, neighborhood organizations and school groups can follow the lead of the City of Mobile Mayor, Sandy Stimpson, who declared a War on Litter. The battle is two-fold: cleaning up trash that already pollutes waterways and taking steps to prevent and manage additional litter.

Mobile Bay NEP recently teamed up with PEP Member Don Bates, community members, students and businesses in cleaning the Maple Street tributary of the Three Mile Creek watershed. After the clean-up crew removed over 200 bags of trash, the team installed a small stream litter trap, developed by Don Bates, as a pilot project for managing litter in waterways. In the first two months, the “Litter Gitter” captured 73 pounds of trash from the creek. View the installation and design on Mobile Bay National Estuary Program’s Facebook page.