AI app lends a hand in ending plastic waste to save the environment

The centerpiece of major initiatives to save the Earth is now an app that consolidates concrete proof of cause and effect.

Beginning on World Cleanup Day 2020 (Saturday, 19 Sep) and extending for two weeks thereafter, thousands of volunteers and supporters of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste around the world will rally their communities to discover, identify, collect and dispose of any litter they find.

Leveraging the global network of the Alliance’s nearly 50 corporate members, the ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP (ATGC) initiative expects to educate more than one million individuals about the importance of litter cleanup. For example, companies such as SUEZ Asia will mobilize 9,000 employees in Southeast Asia and China to support the campaign and demonstrate their commitment to protect the oceans.

A mobile app, Litterati, serves as the centerpiece to unite program participants. The app allows for pickup efforts to be monitored with concrete data, which in turn makes it possible for changes that have a lasting impact—from behavioral shifts to corporate packaging changes and more.

Say AI if you want to end plastic waste

Litterati uses artificial intelligence to identify the litter from the environment captured in geo-tagged photos. All participants will use the smartphone app to upload photos of each piece of litter collected in order to measure and track participation throughout the campaign.

Said Jacob Duer, President and CEO, Alliance to End Plastic Waste: “The scale of the global litter challenge can feel daunting, but growing participation in World Cleanup Day has demonstrated that individuals are eager to do their part. Through the ATGC, the Alliance and our members are determined to further reduce litter in our mission to end plastic waste in the environment. With the help of Litterati and TED-Ed, organizations and citizens around the world can truly come together and be part of a global movement for collective impact.”

For companies, organizations or individuals seeking to participate in the campaign, simply download Litterati from the App Store or Google Play Store. Volunteers can then head out into their community and use the camera in the Litterati app to take photos of the litter collected one piece at a time. You can also join the local conversation online by following the initiative.

Further supplementing these efforts, award-winning youth and education initiative TED-Ed has created multilingual virtual lesson plans and videos that its network of over 600,000 educators may use to teach young students—including those who participate in the ATGC—about the issue of litter in the environment.