The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Allie Bennett will be in sixth grade this fall but she finished up her fifth grade year working on a personal project after being inspired by something she saw online.

"It was a bucket that you put in the water that picks up trash," Allie said. "But it cost way too much money."

That's when her grandfather Allan Bennett suggested a project he found on the Boat US website. It involved building bins to recycle fishing lines.

"Can we do it?" was Allie's immediate response.

The pair approached Port Manager Jackie Lea and were given permission to install the bins at the Elochoman Slough Marina. They then went to the Cathlamet Yacht Club to ask for funding. The yacht club does something every year to improve the marina, according to Bennett.

Diana Zimmerman

A closer look at Bennett's project that provides fishermen a place to recycle fishing line instead of throwing it away or into the river.

After Allie gave a presentation, the yacht club agreed to sponsor the project.

The Bennetts went shopping.

They built the bins according to the instructions on the Boat US website and waited for the sign and decals to arrive from the association.

Last Wednesday, they started putting them up at the marina. There will be one near each dock and a couple more in other places nearby.

"We just hope people will use them," Bennett said.

Installation is not the end of the project. The Bennetts will return periodically to collect the used fishing line and send it to a company that makes monofilament. The line will be recycled to make new monofilament.

"It keeps it out of the waterways," Bennett said.

As for Allie? She now plans to do a new project every year.