Local Community Driven Litter Cleanups

Littering, waste and need to extract resources instead of recycling cause huge environmental impact. $11,5 billion spent yearly on cleanups results in 30% of recycled waste. Increasing those numbers could cut trash amount winding up as litter.

#TrashTag challenge popularity is impressive. Following this success, we’re proposing shared litter cleaning approach and building platform to organize cleanups, with additional, rewarded events. Besides voluntary approach, there is space left for rewarded participation events. Currently, arbitrary selected companies dominated public cleaning. We want to disrupt this model and allow cleanups of locally pointed places by any interested party.

Litter will be collected, materials recycled and put into economy as resources. People will care about not littering in clean places. Waste management industry will be disrupted as people will be able to participate in cleanups and get rewarded. Awareness about environmental issues and correct behaviors will grow. 

The problem that we are solving is the litter lying in different places. 75% of people admitted they littered at least once during last 5 years, resulting with 9 billion tons of waste on the streets, in forests, natural reserves and ending up in the oceans. The impact on the natural environment is huge. Not only because of lying waste, but as well because we need to extract new resources instead of using recycled ones. It’s a hard problem to fight, but every action that moves us in the right direction is worth trying.

$11,5 billion is spent yearly to clean up this mess directly, via social campaigns or regulations. While 75% of waste is recyclable, only 30% makes it to recycling center. Increasing that numbers, could cut down the amount of trash that winds up as litter. We are trying to change the way recycling and litter cleanups industry is composed. So far, litter cleanups were arranged by authorities and recycling was forced. By no doubt - this is correct approach, however, recent movements like the #TrashTag proved that our society is aware enough about the importance of clean environment, that its right time for other approaches to be introduced.

Primary beneficiaries of the proposed solution will be the inhabitants living in local communities that will be cleaned up. Obviously living in clean neighborhoods with clean green areas around is something that can’t be underestimated. Besides clean environment, cleanups can build communities around people that understand environmental topics and will share their values to others. Ecology knowledge and environmental awareness is already high in developed countries like USA or Germany, but many Asian or Eastern European countries have still a long way to go until they will build common belief in the fact that our environment is important.

Local authorities are the second mostly influenced group. They will have a chance to stimulate local people or companies to quickly organize cleanups of places that need that the most. Whether it will be a voluntary cleanup in #TrashTag style or a rewarded one is not crucial, what is important is that there will be a way to track progress and direct the cleaning process in more systematic way. 

Recycling points will get access to segregated resources that were earlier considered lost for the economy. Materials that are not primary goal for recycling companies will be gathered as well by passionate individuals. 

Disruption of the public litter cleaning sector can be achieved with the usage of easy to use map based digital platform where individuals, companies and authorities will be able to select places that require litter gathering and agree on the way it should be cleaned. 

Key features include:

1. Simple map with ability to select/pin places that require a cleanup
   1. Ability to schedule a date, type and multiple details for litter cleanups for particular location 
   2. Voluntary cleanup 
      1. Ability to define a sponsor for a voluntary cleanup that will provide the necessary equipment. 
      2. Ability to vote on the location to be cleaned
      3. Ability to promote the location sponsor and event details 
   3. Rewarded cleanup for environmentally conscious enterprises or local authorities 
      1. Ability to define reward/payment for cleanup of particular place
      2. Ability to confirm the location was cleaned 
      3. Ability to transfer the reward to the bidders 
      4. Ability to promote the offering party(local authorities, companies or individuals)
   4. Ability to add pictures of the pointed place before the cleanup 
2. Ability to select a place from the maps that require cleanup and join the scheduled event 
   1. Ability to join as a volunteer
      1. Ability to gather virtual points to select top contributors 
   2. Ability to join an event with reward 
      1. Ability to bid on the price for particular cleanup 
      2. Ability to confirm the location was served 
      3. Ability to get instant payments for the finished job
3. Possibility to show pictures of the places before and after the cleanup 
4. Integration with social media and the #ThrashTag challenge events.
5. Select the closest route to the recycling points for the gathered materials.
6. Estimate of the value of gathered materials 
7. Estimated impact on the natural environment and local community
8. Generation of periodic reports about progress for any interested parties 
9. Generation of periodic reports about the type of litter found in particular locations - useful for avoiding it in the future. 

Platform is designed to work with 4 types of actors, same for voluntary and for rewarded events:

1. Bidders - people willing to participate in cleanup event
2. Tenderers - people requesting the need of cleaning(local authorities, environmentally concerned companies or individuals), it can be both types of events 
3. Process Guards - people responsible for checking if the results were achieved or if the volunteers have everything needed to finalize the cleanup 
4. Sponsors - parties willing to help the bidders drive their initiatives to success 

Shared approach to litter cleanups is something that was never considered earlier and is the main innovation that we are proposing. Recent popularity and simplicity of the #TrashTag challenge is impressive. It’s a great movement with huge positive impact on local communities, their unity and of course mainly on the natural environment. Driven by this success story, the belief that local people know best what their surroundings need and that when shown the way, will take care about their local environment in the best possible way, we want to propose a new business model for litter cleanups and recycling. This combination of rewarded and voluntary litter cleaning and recycling is innovative on one hand but on the other is already proved to work well with the #TrashTag challenge. 

Usage of centralized platform for cleanups organizing will allow us to analyze lots of interesting data. As part of our solution we will be using big data techniques, looking for most littered locations and how it corresponds with their surroundings. Analysis of gathered and recycled materials, combined with places where they were gathered will allow to plan correct steps in order to prevent littering in the future. Generation of appropriate reports for local authorities and communities will give them data, that when correctly used, will open many new opportunities for public spaces planning or where to concentrate educational efforts about littering environmental impact. 

Our solution and underlying business model requires dedicated software implementation. In order to tackle our most important differentiators we are basing on modern technologies:

1. Digital Marketing Platforms - we are targeting global presence and even the model will be similar for all countries and scalable, the content will differ significantly. Personalized messages needs to be served depending on the location, user type, his preferences and history of visits.  
2. Social networking - our solution needs to be closely integrated with social networks like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. The #TrashTag challenge started on Facebook and we want to continue and grow based on its popularity.
3. Mobile apps with location based services - users will mostly operate and interact with our solution via mobile apps dedicated for iOS and Android. In order to use places tagging, GPS position of users will be tracked.
4. Cloud Services - in order to secure the possibility to handle big numbers of visitors and always have expected availability, the system is being designed to work on Google Cloud Platform. 
5. Big data analysis - in order to generate reports for authorities about most littered locations and the types of found waste, we will be using Hadoop for big data analysis. 
6. Pictures - in the first stage of implementation, users will have the possibility to store pictures of places and litter that requires cleanup. As next step, we will be able to interpret those pictures to extend the information about typical waste and people behaviors that need to be changed

Critics argue that cleanups don’t address pollution root cause. They insist that reduction of unnecessary plastic at source, design harmless products and better recycling processes are needed. There is, however, evidence that campaigns like the Great Plastic Pick Up make a difference, also in long term. Every piece of trash taken away for recycling or deposited means there is one less dangerous item for wildlife to swallow. Cleanups also restore these creatures’ habitats. 

During the world’s largest beach cleanup in Mumbai, around 13 million kgs of waste was collected. Several months later, first time in decades, 80 turtle hatchlings were spotted on the same beach heading towards the sea.

Litter cleanups also educate. Experts say they give volunteers clear sense of the scale of the problem and inspire to reduce their reliance on single-use plastics, and, crucially, to spread the word to others.

Pollution of our environment is monumental, multifaceted problem with global consequences. There’s no silver bullet and no single activity can solve it. However, public engagement appears critical to encourage behavior change and increase pressure on governments and businesses. As with all the existential environmental challenges we face today, everyone has a role to play. You might not have a science degree, or a role in government, but we can all pick up the rubbish that is lying right in front of us. It’s not the only solution, but it is a critical component of the complex required solution. 

12,000 people got to work cleaning Britain’s streets, green spaces and beaches as part of a nationwide Great Plastic Pick Up during a weekend in May 2018. Mumbai's Versova Beach has seen similar enormous beach clean-up. Voluntary cleanups are very popular and are organized around the world via multiple different channels and platforms - we want to provide a standardized, easy to use place to organize them and collect data about their results. Their participants are first target audience for our solution. 

It will be available globally, but we will be contacting marketing agencies, media,  authorities and enterprises for support and promotion step by step. Different language versions and targeted content will be available once the platform will spread. 

First target will be Poland and Germany because of high society environmental awareness, willingness to make impact and understanding of the need of recycling. Targeted numbers of users is 22000 both for voluntary and sponsored single events in and around 40000 yearly. 

Year later, we will be attracting North America and rest of Europe. Estimated number of users is 135000 for top events and 200000 yearly. 

In 3 years we will focus on most challenging but also most promising region - APAC. Estimated number of users in case of success might grow up to 300000 for top events and 500000 in general.

Number of people indirectly affected by cleanups can’t be measured, but it will be huge. 

Our short term goals:

1. Release the platform world wide.
2. Promote it via multiple channels in major countries. Present it’s goals in local television. 
3. Make it the first choice for people and organizations that want to organize a cleanup. 
4. Organize big, nation-wide event via the platform in every major country. Connect with organizations that prepare the cleanup and establish partnerships. 
5. Disrupt public cleaning industry via sponsored cleanups. Make sure that companies like CleanLots.com use our platform for driving their business. 
6. Organize local representatives in every major country, they will be responsible for localized content and local promotion of the platform. 
7. Introduce gamification into the platform to allow competition between people, communities, companies, or even governments. 

Our long term goals:

1. Detailed analysis of the type of gathered waste and how it is connected with the locations where found. Make use of this data during universities scientific research. 
2. Development of methods for preventing littering by proposing solutions for companies based on collected data. Support of product development companies with reports about litter sources. 
3. Participation with global litter cleanups via partnerships with companies like The Ocean Cleanup  .
4. Introduction of automation and robots into the process of litter cleanups, partnerships with universities and companies like Urban River Trashbot.

Every barrier we identified so far has an action plan already defined. 

Short term challenges:

-Development and promotion financing - our team needs to secure founding to speed up the development of the platform and promote it. 

-Lack of connections with people responsible for cleanups organization in target markets - our team needs to build network of connections and attract organizers of cleanups. 

-Lack of connections with volunteers in target markets - our team needs to build network of connections and attract users to use our platform. 

-Lack of knowledge about specifics of target markets - missing understanding of specifics of multiple markets that we want to attract. 

-Limited understanding of sociology driving people behaviors - we have good examples of cleanups being successful but we don’t deeply understand what drives people to join them. 

-Know how about the details of recycling industry - missing structured knowledge about which materials can be recycled and which are the biggest threat to the environment and need to be handled with priority. 

Long term challenges:

-Lack of knowledge about recyclable product design and littering avoidance - missing knowledge about the principles that should be followed by products to make them easy for recycling or easily disposable. 

-Lack of connections with big global cleanup organizations - missing access to people from other organizations that are putting efforts in cleanup activities 

-Lack of robotics/automation deeper understanding - missing skills required to propose automated solutions for litter cleanups

1. Financing - we are in the phase of applying for EU support founding for new business that focus on innovation and environmental protection. In every target country we will be looking for support founding from authorities, there are multiple programs dedicated for environmental projects. Rest of needed founds will come from our teams private savings and banks. 
2. Connections - after the platform will be developed, we will be looking for local people in every target country to support us with understanding of local specifics, cleanups organization, finding volunteers and companies involved into organization of previously completed cleanups. We want to start with voluntary based help and once our presence will grow hire local representatives. 
3. Sociology, Recycling and Product Design knowledge - we are very motivated to drive our solution into success. There will be many knowledge areas that will require us to learn new stuff. We will be attending conferences, dedicated trainings and courses - also from MIT via the edX platform. We are considering the participation in MIT Solve as well as a great opportunity to grow our connections network and learn new things. 

Our pilot team consists of 3 involved people:

1. Aleksander Drozd - Solution Leader 
2. Mateusz Skawiński 
3. Michał Kryściak 

We are also on demand asking subcontractors for help on particular assignments.

We are a team of seasoned software industry experts with strong drive for innovation. We have from 10 to 12 years of experience building different types of software, from custom based desktop solutions, via embedded software and ending on cloud based SaaS platforms. We have been working in different IT roles, starting from development and finishing on creation of complex software architecture, management of programs containing of multiple projects and on business development. We have expertise and understanding of setting up of profitable organizations, building performing and motivated teams and using external providers when needed to drive our endeavors to success. 

All of us live in neighborhoods where littering is common, where it isn’t anything special to see piles of trash in the forest or on the river side. We have faced the problem of not enough reactions from local authorities and helplessness when trying to find ways to get our neighborhoods cleaned. As a result we already participated in local cleanups, we felt that was the only possible way - organize our self’s with others and get the needed things done. 

We are using our technology experience and combining it with very high motivation to do something that makes a difference for all of us and natural environment. We as well have children, we just can’t agree to leave our neighborhoods littered and let them play in such conditions or never see wildlife in clean natural environment.

Our solution, is designed for profit. We combine Market Linkage, Fee For Service and Cooperative Models to reach financial sustainability.

Anticipated revenue sources:

1. Fees for rewarded cleanups organization - our platform will be the “man in the middle” during processing payments between involved parties. Percentage of the transaction will be charged as a service fee. 
2. Promotion of cleanups - we will be offering different types of promotion opportunities for cleanups. They will include top ups on the list of cleanups in the closest  neighborhood, city, county or globally. Fees will differ based on selected criteria and range of the promotion. 
3. Fees for sponsorship of voluntary cleanups - we will be exchanging the ability to place companies logo and promote them on our platform next to an event for the fee depending on the type of sponsorship and needs. 
4. Advertising services - as we are expecting specific type of people to be users of our platform, there will be an opportunity to present them ads of external services like solar panels providers, recycling centers etc. First partnerships with interested companies are already in place. 

Besides the expected revenue we will be looking for external founding. Those include:

1. Polish and European Union Grants - governments provide aid for companies involved into solving waste management problems and working with newest, innovative technologies. We are preparing the request for such grant. 
2. Investment Capital and Start Up contests - our solution will be presented to venture capital funds to secure additional funds. 

We are applying to solve mostly because of:

1. Partnerships potential - we are looking for companies or organizations who support the idea of litter cleanups and would like to join us in facing the problem of our environment pollution. 
2. Mentorship and training - most companies fail within the first two years of operations. We are implementing very systematic approach into building this business and are trying to predict and be prepared for multiple scenarios, also to bad ones. Mentoring would allow us to get new,extended view on our approach and ideas. 
3. Exposure - MIT Solve is a prestigious organization. Selection as a solver would allow us to get lots of positive hype, confidence, exposure and ease with securing the founding.

Our solution needs strong partners in order to operate. 

Mission sharing partners:

1. Organizations that are or were organizing cleanups - we want to help them to have a common platform for fulfilling their goals. 
2. Local authorities willing to promote cleanups as a way to engage local communities into keeping their neighborhoods clean. 
3. Environmentally concerned companies that will be promoting themselves as the ones who care and will be organizing cleanups. 
4. Schools willing to engage children and promote environmental awareness starting from early childhood. 

Potential benefiting partners:

1. Companies or individuals who organize paid cleanup services, for example of parking lots. 
2. Companies or individuals who provide cleaning services. 
3. Companies or individuals who have a need for some particular space to be cleaned from litter but never explored this model earlier. For example after some massive public events like concerts, festivals or a park after high season. 

Strategic delivery and growth partners:

1. Marketing Companies who will help us promote our solution. 
2. Universities willing to participate in analysis of gathered data and their interpretation.
3. Automatic cleanup tools solution providers

Prize reward will allow us to speed up activities targeted for getting funding for our initiative. That includes initial marketing and promotion campaign materials, which goals are to find long term business partners. Our solution is planned for global, world-wide scope. This requires partners and sponsors to gain visibility and become recognizable for people. That is important, as our solution is based on social contribution of individuals.

Apart of marketing efforts, we are going to extend our current hardware infrastructure. That will allow running and presenting application, that is supporting our initiative, in front of potential stakeholders. Part of reward would be spent on that as well. Presenting demo of live running solution, even with limited range and scope of functionality, is a key to help people understand the concept and gain their attraction.

Prize reward will allow us to speed up activities targeted for getting funding for our initiative. That includes initial marketing and promotion campaign materials, which goals are to find long term business partners. Our solution is planned for global, world-wide scope. This requires partners and sponsors to gain visibility and become recognizable for people. That is important, as our solution is based on social contribution of individuals.

Apart of marketing efforts, we are going to extend our current hardware infrastructure. That will allow running and presenting application, that is supporting our initiative, in front of potential stakeholders. Part of reward would be spent on that as well. Presenting demo of live running solution, even with limited range and scope of functionality, is a key to help people understand the concept and gain their attraction.