Columbus gets its second trash trap. Why did planners choose Weracoba Creek?
What if there were a way to easily and swiftly get trash out of the creeks that flow through Columbus?
Whether it’s a soda can intentionally tossed on the ground, a Chick-Fil-A wrapper that blew out of an overflowing garbage can and picked up during a rainstorm, or a plastic bag from the grocery store, the creeks of Columbus have seen it all.
The Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that aims to keep rivers and streams clean from bacteria and other harmful pollutants, also has trash collection on its list of to-dos. They are most concerned with the tiny bits of plastic that break down into microplastics, which can harm wildlife and humans when ingested.
They’ve figured out another way to keep streams clean: trash traps. Over a dozen have been installed in Metro Atlanta, and some have been put in Newnan and LaGrange.
Last month, a first-of-its-kind trap (a floating wetland with native plants) was installed in Cooper Creek, the first to be installed in Columbus.
Columbus now has a second. It lies in Weracoba Creek in Dinglewood Park. This will be the 17th trash trap the Riverkeepers have installed in the Chattahoochee River basin.
The riverkeepers collect anywhere from 100 pounds up to 1,500 pounds of trash annually, depending on the size of the creek, Jordan Yu, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper watershed protection specialist, said.
The collected trash is sorted, and what can be recycled, which is about 30% of the trash, is taken to a recycling center.
Just last week, riverkeeper staff collected 16 pounds of trash out of the floating wetland in Cooper Creek.
Why Weracoba and Dinglewood? What’s next?
Weracoba slices through an urban part of Columbus. Just south of Manchester Expressway, it weaves through Rosehill Heights, goes through Lakebottom Park and runs parallel to 13th Street through Dinglewood until it turns South and eventually goes into the Chattahoochee River near Victory Drive and the headwaters of Bull Creek.
But the location wasn’t selected just because it’s an urban area.
Julio Portillo, executive director of MidTown Inc. wanted to partner with CRK and wanted to put it in the creek, according to Henry Jacobs, deputy director of CRK.
“There’s going to be a bike park on the other side of the creek here, it’s a bike park for kids and the dragonfly trail network plans to extend through here,” Jacobs said. “What better chance to put a trap up in the creek to help clean it up, make it look nice and be an educational resource to educate people not to litter in the first place.”
Portillo said he partnered with CRK when he heard Jacobs talk about wanting to improve the water quality of Weracoba and it “dawned on him that the creek is right next to the new MidTown Children’s Bicycle Playground.”
“MidTown, Inc. wants to be a good steward of Weracoba creek and hope that by supporting the installation and yearly maintenance of the (trash trap), will not only help with trash collection on the creek, but also, something that park users (families and children of all ages) can see in action and encourage them to be responsible and mindful of Weracoba creek,” Portillo told the L-E via email.
This trap is more “basic” than the trap in Cooper Creek.
“It’s a basic, sturdy, floating boom that can collect trash but also let wildlife or fish pass underneath,” Jacobs said. “This trap was in another river in the basin that needed to be moved because beavers were building a dam on top of it.”
Volunteers and staff will be out every week – or after every big rainfall event – in waders or tall boots to collect the trash.
“Keeping trash from staying in the creeks (prevents) it from breaking down into microplastics,” Jacobs said.
The Riverkeepers also inherited a trash trap from Columbus State University in Lindsey Creek.
“CSU owns the trash trap and they asked us to start helping maintain it,” Jacobs said.
This isn’t the last trap to come to Columbus, and the city needs more, according to Jacobs.
“There’s definitely … a need for more trash traps here in Columbus, just to help remove trash before it gets to the Chattahoochee River,” he said. “Hopefully, years from now we won’t need them, because we will have gotten the point across that littering and microplastics is bad.”
The MidTown Children’s Bicycle Playground project is currently under revision for permitting with city engineers and needs to be reviewed by City Council, Portillo said.
Portillo told the Ledger-Enquirer if all goes well it should be in construction by mid-October and completed six weeks later.
This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 10:23 AM.
