The Alliance to End Plastic Waste launches ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP to rid the world of litter, one piece at a time

A global network of volunteers honors World Cleanup Day with innovation from Litterati and educational tools from TED-Ed

Extending its efforts to lessen the impact of litter on the environment, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (the Alliance) today announces the ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP, a global initiative to remove litter, one piece at a time from the environment in celebration of World Cleanup Day 2020.

Beginning on World Cleanup Day 2020 (Saturday, September 19) and extending for the ensuing two weeks, thousands of volunteers from the Alliance, employees of participating member and non-member companies, partners and individuals around the world will rally to their communities to discover, identify, collect and dispose of any litter they find. Leveraging the global network of the Alliance’s nearly 50 members, the ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP expects to educate more than one million individuals about the importance of litter clean up.

Litterati, a finalist of the Alliance and Plug and Play’s incubator program in the United States, developed the app that serves as the centerpiece to unite ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP participants. The Litterati app allows for pickup efforts to be monitored with concrete data, which in turn makes it possible for changes of lasting impact—from behavioural shifts to corporate packaging changes and more. Litterati uses artificial intelligence technology to identify the litter from the environment captured in geo-tagged photos. All participants will use the innovative Litterati smartphone app to upload photos of each piece of litter collected in order to measure and track participation throughout the two-week campaign.

“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,” said Jacob Duer, President and CEO, Alliance to End Plastic Waste. “Through the ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP, 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.”

To date, many of the Alliance’s member companies have announced they would participate in the 2020 ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP through teams of employee volunteers. Other companies, organizations or individuals seeking to participate in the ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP should simply download Litterati from the App Store or Google Play Store, open the Litterati app and enter the code: ‘CLEAN’. Volunteers can then head out into their local community and use the camera in the Litterati app to take photos of the litter collected one piece at a time.

“We are excited to collaborate with the Alliance to End Plastic Waste on an important common goal: to help create a litter-free world,” said Jeff Kirschner, founder and CEO, Litterati. “By empowering the ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP volunteers, and measuring their positive impact, we are creating the opportunity for long-lasting environmental change.”

Further supplementing these efforts, award-winning youth and education initiative TED-Ed has created 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 ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP—about the issue of litter in the environment. The video-based lessons will be available on TED-Ed’s free and award-winning educational platform and translated into several languages. Visit AllTogetherCleanup.org to access the TED-Ed lesson plans and videos.

“By showcasing the commitment and efforts of all in the ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP ecosystem, we hope to spark and engage the interests of the next generation of environmental activists. Through education and action, we can reduce litter and have a lasting positive impact on the world,” said Logan Smalley, founding executive director, TED-Ed.

Clean Up is one of four strategic pillars of the Alliance, along with infrastructure, innovation, and education and engagement, that guide the organization as it works to identify, evaluate, select and invest in programs that bring to life solutions that prevent the leakage of plastic waste into the environment and contribute to a circular economy. The Alliance’s ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP emphasizes the scalable impact of individuals when everyone steps up to take action. The two-week window to participate in the ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP gives participants the choice to take part when they are comfortable in doing so and physically distanced given their local communities’ COVID-19 safety guidance.

Please visit the following links for more information about the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and the ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP.

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About ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP

ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP is a global initiative launched by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste and its members in celebration of World Cleanup Day. On World Cleanup Day, September 19, and for two weeks following, the Alliance, employees of participating member organisations, non-member companies, other partners and individuals around the world will take to their communities through the ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP to remove litter from the environment, one piece at a time. The Alliance member companies participating in the 2020 ALL_TOGETHER GLOBAL CLEANUP include, Avient; BASF; Berry Global; Braskem; Charter NEX Films; Chevron Phillips Chemical; Dow, Inc.; EQUATE Petrochemical Company; Esenttia; Formosa Plastics Corporation; LyondellBasell; Milliken & Company; Norner; NOVA Chemicals; Novolex; Pregis; SABIC; Sasol; SCG; Shell; Sinopec; Storopack; SUEZ Asia; Sumitomo Chemical America, Inc; TOMRA; and Total.

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About Litterati

Litterati is on a mission to eradicate litter. Now in 165 countries, the Litterati community identifies, maps, and collects waste, resulting in an Open Litter Database—the largest of its kind. They are backed by the National Science Foundation and have been highlighted at TED.

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About TED-Ed

TED-Ed is TED’s youth and education initiative. TED-Ed’s mission is to spark and celebrate the ideas of teachers and students around the world. Everything we do supports learning—from producing a growing library of original animated videos, to providing an international platform for teachers to create their own interactive lessons, to helping curious students around the globe bring TED to their schools and gain presentation literacy skills, to celebrating innovative leadership within TED-Ed’s global network of over 600,000 teachers. TED-Ed has grown from an idea worth spreading into an award-winning education platform that serves millions of teachers and students around the world every week.