Litterati

Because a global problem requires a global solution

Litterati aims to create systemic change to reduce the amount of waste escaping into the environment all around the globe. Litterati is a technology company empowering people to “crowdsource clean” the planet in 100+ countries. With their (free) app, Litterati encourages people all over the world to collect and tag litter and share their efforts with millions of like-minded individuals. But the app does more than simply encourage people to tidy up. Delve beyond the profile pics, photo galleries and cheery campaigns announcing neighborhood clean-up plans, and you’ll find a secret weapon: crowdsourced data.

Litterati uses LitterAI (image recognition) to extract the type of Object, Material and Brand from each image and then derives patterns and insights to assist in finding solutions and support decisions with data. By aggregating massive amounts of information detailing what type of litter people pick up, they paint a holistic picture of how trash exists in and permeates throughout the world.

Litter is choking our planet – polluting the air, water and soil that both people and wildlife need to survive. This crisis has spread to every corner of the globe. Every single day, litter is flowing into our natural environment at an unprecedented rate. We do not yet know how much of this litter and plastic is actually leaking into our nature, where it is coming from and where the hotspots are. What we really need to help us develop and implement effective solutions to eradicate litter, is crystal clear data on (plastic) litter pathways.

Litterati’s Global Litter Database has been used to successfully inform government policy and to influence changes leading to greener packaging. For example, San Francisco leverages the Litterati database for a $4 million tobacco tax, and Dutch company ANTA flu switched from plastic to paper wrappers based on Litterati data. Litterati has already tagged a total of 13 million pieces of litter. There is traction all over the world, and that’s good news as we need to turn the litter tap off asap!

Armed with data, determination and an engaged community, Litterati has the power to impact change. Litterati epitomizes how a single person (Jeff Kirschner, Founder & CEO of Litterati – check out his founder story in this TED Talk) can inspire a community, influence an industry and change government policies around the globe.

A crisis that has spread to every corner of the globe

At Rubio we believe that Litterati can be a gamechanger. Our investment will enable the Litterati team to continue to develop their product and help more organizations all over the world to tackle the global litter problem. If you’d like to find out more about the transformational change being driven by Litterati, check out their website. And most importantly, we encourage you to download the app and start tagging litter together with us.