What We Do / River and Road Clean-ups
Protecting the health of the French Broad River watershed
By keeping litter out of our rivers, we keep our waterways and oceans healthier and improve our climate resilience.
Join a Public Cleanup Event
Every year, Buncombe County residents and visitors join us to clean up tens of thousands of pounds of litter out of our rivers and streams and off our local roads. You can join one of our public river and road cleanups, request a guided cleanup for your group or team (limited availability), or borrow supplies to venture out on your own.
Clean Streams Day
Since 1976, we’ve celebrated the start of summer paddling season with this keystone river cleanup. We hold the cleanup in May to honor the birthday of local author and environmental advocate Wilma Dykeman and to celebrate her contributions to the French Broad watershed.
WNC Big Sweep
Every year in September, we close out cleanup season with this high-energy multi-county effort to get the litter out of our most important rivers and creeks.
Join our newsletter to stay up-to–date on our upcoming public cleanup events.
Join the Newsletter
DIY Clean-Ups
You can take the lead in cleaning up your neighborhood. GreenWorks is here with the assist.
We have safety vests, gloves, trash bags, trash grabbers, and sharps containers for you to borrow.
In 2025, community members organized 114 DIY Clean-Ups and removed over 14,415 pounds of litter from our neighborhoods.
Start planning your clean-up today!
Trash Trouts™ are litter-collection devices that sit in urban creeks and streams to keep roadside litter from polluting downstream waterways. Trash Trouts™ make litter cleanup easier for city stormwater managers, neighborhood associations, water- and riverkeepers, — and help waterway guardians educate and inspire their communities to get involved.
Purchase a Trash Trout™ Stormwater Litter Solution
How can Trash Trouts help you?
Keep trash from reaching your river
Connect with your community
Satisfy NPDES Phase 1 & 2 & MS4 requirements
