CHAMBLEE, Ga. — At Huntley Hills Park in the city of Chamblee, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper’s Jordan Yu leads a group of volunteers in some dirty work. The volunteers load buckets of water, shovel dirt and plant native greenery to support a floating wetlands trash trap.

“We all see some of the huge issues the environment faces, and many of us are looking for ways to do something about it,” Yu said. “This is kind of like a strainer that lets the water through but catches the trash.”

Yu said Australia has used the plastic traps for years because of their resistance to UV light and protection from the elements. The trap relies on gravity to pull trash downstream. Floating litter gets stuck in the trap, while wildlife can swim right on through it. Yu said the trap gets cleaned about every two weeks or after every half-inch of rain.

“This is a trap that does three things all at once,” Yu said. “It catches floating plastic pollution, it removes excess nutrients from the water, and it also provides habitat for native pollinators. This is so important for the environment because it addresses a lot of needs our urban creeks have. They’re plagued by pollution, stormwater runoff, litter, and of course there’s a lack of biodiverse habitat for native plants and wildlife.”

Amanda Hallauer, stormwater manager for the City of Chamblee, said the floating wetlands trash trap marks the second one ever installed in Georgia. Chattahoochee Riverkeeper previously installed the first in the state in Columbus.

“Nancy Creek, as most of our major urban streams in the Atlanta area, is designated as an impaired waterway,” Hallauer said. “So every bit we can do can help.”

Juliet Cohen, a volunteer, joined her fellow employees from work to do their part in keeping the environment clean. She said it was their responsibility to be good stewards of the environment.

“This is a watershed where many of our employees live and play,” Cohen said. “We all drink and need clean water. This is a playground where children play and families come together, and if we have healthy clean water in the creeks, maybe they’ll go down and explore the critters and plants and things living there too.”

Every minute of work and every bead of sweat from volunteers helps make the environment cleaner and a better place to live. Yu said anyone can pick up litter from hiking trails, parks and waterways to make a difference.

“The effects of habitat loss and pollution buildup are cumulative,” Yu said. “They continue to compound if you don’t do anything to stop them. The water we have here is great and valuable to us, but it’s also valuable to all the people in Middle Georgia, Southern Georgia, Florida and the Gulf. Every little act of taking care of the environment shows other people that it’s a thing worth doing.”