Trash Free St. Louis

Trash Free St. Louis is a collaborative initiative of Missouri Confluence Waterkeeper, Blue2Blue Conservation, and other community partners to install and maintain floating “trash traps” in local creeks and streams. One one hand, the objective is simple -- to capture and remove as much litter as possible before it reaches the Mississippi River and ultimately the ocean. But more than that, we want to figure out where the trash is coming from and work on upstream solutions to ultimately reduce the need for downstream capture and cleanup.

This pilot program is the first of its kind in EPA Region 7, and the data collected will be analyzed by our partners at the Wichita State Environmental Finance Center to help determine causes of and solutions to help tackle the planet's plastic pollution problem. Our goal is to build a cleaner and more sustainable St. Louis region while taking responsibility for the trash flowing through our waterways.

What is a Trash Trap? Trash traps, or in-stream litter collection devices, are composed of a floating boom that attaches easily to embankments, stormwater outfalls, canals or creeks. These traps gather floating debris before it reaches the main waterway and creates a larger pollution problem.

Why do we need them? A vast majority of all marine debris is composed of plastic, and an estimated 80% of this plastic is carried from land to sea through our earth’s vast network of rivers and streams. Recent studies have found that an average of 9 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean every year from these inland sources. Yet it remains difficult to establish the source of pollution and calculate the amount of litter entering our waterways at any given location. 

Surprisingly little is known about plastic pollution in freshwater systems, as most research has historically focused on marine environments. Given the significance of inland rivers and streams in the transport of litter, St. Louis, Missouri -  at the confluence of the fourth largest river system in the world -  is in an ideal location to identify and prevent upstream sources of marine debris. 

Want to get involved? We would love to have you as a project partner. Interested in volunteering? Data collection? Want to be a project sponsor or collaborator? We would love to hear from you. Email us with your ideas. And if you see one of the traps out in the wild, tag us #TrashFreeSTL and let us know what you think!