How Philadelphia’s Mayor’s Office Engaged Students to Find Litter Solutions

CONTEXT

In 2019, students across the City of Brotherly Love were brought together during a three month pilot project initiated by the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office, students identified, mapped, and collected litter all over the city.

CHALLENGE

How can data be used to change opinions about litter in the community?

LITTERATI SOLUTION

We engaged 12 schools, 300 students who collected a sample of 13,000+ pieces.

“Litterati’s technology and curriculum helped us understand how to develop actual solutions,” said Nicolas Esposito, Philadelphia’s Director of Zero Waste and Litter.

CONCLUSION

Philadelphia is now exploring a city-wide effort, introducing Litterati into 220 public schools, complete with a STEM-based approach. Just imagine what it would be like if a city and its students collaborated to eradicate litter.

Based on the effort and the data collected, a plastic bag ban has been planned out to combat the litter problem. Read the entire news article here