GPS will track trash in NC waters to show how litter spreads

Researchers launched GPS-equipped plastic bottles into a Raleigh creek to track how local litter travels downstream, breaks into microplastics and threatens ecosystems and human health.
Posted 5/20/2025, 9:03:43 PM Updated 5/21/2025, 12:58:08 AM

INCREASED INTEREST RATES AND

DECLINING RENTAL RATES AS THE

REASON.

>> A PLASTIC BOTTLE DROPPED

IN RALEIGH CAN TRAVEL HUNDREDS

OF MILES AND END UP BACK UP ON

YOUR DINNER PLATE. WRAL'S

CLIMATE CHANGE REPORTER LIZ

MCLAUGHLIN SHOWS THE NEW

EXPERIMENT TO FOLLOW ITS PAC.

>> 20 BOTTLES SPLASHED INTO

MARSH CREEK THIS MORNING.

TURNING TRASH INTO REAL-TIME

TRACKERS OR WERE HERE TO

RELEASE THESE BOTTLES WITH GPS

TRACKERS TO SEE HOW FAR

THIS LITTER ENDS UP. TRAVELING

DOWN THE CREEK, THE LITTER AND

SEES THE RESEARCHERS AND LOCAL

NONPROFITS HOPE THESE DIGITAL

BREADCRUMBS WILL SHOW RALEIGH'S

ROLE IN THE ROUGHLY 2 MILLION

TONS OF PLASTIC. IT REACHES THE

OCEAN EACH YEAR A TEST IN APRIL

PUSHED SOME BOTTLES MORE THAN

25 MILES IN JUST WEEKS. IN

ADDITION TO THE GPS UNIT IN THE

BATTLE, EACH ONE HAS A QR CODE.

SO A LITTLE BIT OF CITIZEN

SCIENCE HERE YOU CAN SCAN AND

UPLOAD A PICTURE, SAY WHERE

YOU FOUND IT AND FOLLOW ALONG

THE JOURNEY OF THIS LETTER.

>> THE PINGS FEED A STATEWIDE

STUDY ON HOW MUCH TRASH CITY

SAINT DOWNSTREAM AND WHICH

PREVENTION TACTICS WORK BEST.

PLASTIC IS A FOCUS BECAUSE IT

BREAKS APART INTO TOXIC

MICRO-PLASTICS. A RESEARCH IS

SHOWING THAT THESE ORGANISMS

ACCUMULATE

THESE MICROPLASTICS. AND SO

THIS COULD END UP ON OUR PLATE.

AND THE PROBLEM HITS WALLETS,

TOO, DOT SAYS NORTH CAROLINIAN

SPENT MORE THAN 56 MILLION

DOLLARS ON LITTER CLEANUP IN

2023 0ST NOT ONLY UGLY, IT'S

HARMFUL TO OUR HEALTH AND OUR

ENVIRONMENT, HEALTH AND DETER

EXPENSES FROM CREEK TO COAST.

THESE BOTTLES COULD CHART THE

© WRAL