Healthy Waters & Litterati
Our Goal: Protect the waters we all enjoy through a love of paddlesports.
At Werner, we know we can make a difference to directly impact the health of our favorite waterways by picking up trash.
We've recently partnered up with Litterati, an app that is building an ecosystem to create a litter free world. It’s all built on the foundation of the data captured by the growing Litterati community.
Join our Healthy Waters challenge by using challenge code: WPHW2021 on the Litterati App.
Be an Environmental Hero
Join the community that's cleaning the planet.
How The Litterati App Works:
1) Photograph a piece of litter.
Find a discarded coffee cup, crushed soda can, candy wrapper, or any other piece of litter & take a picture.
2) Discard Properly & Tag the Photo.
The app automatically geo-tags the image & our LitterAI tool recommends tags for what kind of litter it is. Confirm the tags to help the LitterAI keep learning.
3) Invite or Challenge Others.
Want to collaborate (or compete) with others to help keep your street, neighborhood, school grounds, or city clean? Litterati can help you team up!
4) Use LitterData to Inspire Change.
Litterati members all over the world have been able to use LitterData to get companies, organizations, and governments to create positive environmental policy changes. You can too! LitterData.
Litter Collection Tips:
1. Bring a buddy with you – one person can take the photos while the other identifies and collects the litter.
2. Go to your favorite paddling locations. We want cleanup to directly impact the health of our local waterways.
3. Carry a bag to collect the litter.
4. Practice social distancing of at least 6 feet between you and others not in your household.
5. Wear a face mask and gloves.
6. Only pick up trash that you’re comfortable collecting. Place sharp objects like broken glass in a solid container and safely dispose it in a trash bin.
7. Dispose litter on-site if available or at your house.
Can I use the app when I am off the grid or have limited cell service or phone signal?
The app does not require mobile data or a Wi-Fi connection to capture photos within the app. Mobile data or a Wi-Fi connection is required to upload the photos to the Litterati database.
If you do not log out or delete the app, any photos captured will remain stored in the app until you have service again. Once you are in service, open the app and your photos will upload to the cloud server.
Can I take photos in the app without cell service and upload them to the app later?
Yes.
Can I take photos outside of the app and upload them to the app later?
Yes, photos can be uploaded to the app while in camera mode. To do this, click on the blue camera icon like you would to take a picture. In camera mode, in the bottom left corner, click on the picture icon, then select the photo(s), click done and upload. If your phone’s camera settings allow photos to have geotagging, then the photo’s location will be automatically included in your upload.
How do I prevent the app from draining my battery?
The main cause for the battery drain is due to the app’s location services and GPS accuracy mode. Before participating, we recommend:
- Ensuring your phone battery is fully charged. If you are going somewhere for a few hours or will be using your phone’s maps or GPS, bring a charging cord or a portable charging device.
- Closing all other apps when using the Litterati app. Change your phone settings to “power saving mode.”
- Changing your photo uploading settings in the app to Wi-Fi only by going to your “Profile.” Under “Settings,” select “upload via Wi-Fi only.”
What happens if the app crashes and how do I prevent it?
If your app crashes while uploading photos, your collected data and photos should remain unharmed.
- While your photos are uploading, wait and do not exit out of the app until the upload finishes.
- Avoid switching between multiple apps while using Litterati.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Litterati App.
How can I see what I've picked up?
Once you've uploaded photos, you can see them in your gallery. Go to the profile section of the app (furthest section to the left). This will show your total litter count as well as a map of your impact. In the bottom section of the profile screen, you will see the gallery option to see each individual picture you've uploaded.
How do I add a location to my images?
This is done automatically if you have given the app permission to your phone's location services. You can toggle permissions on and off in your phone's settings for the Litterati app. If location services are not shared (or if there is a network connection issue), location of images may be inaccurate or non-existent (no location data would be attached to the image). Currently there is no way to add location to images after uploading them.
Do I need to take a photo of each piece of litter individually?
At the moment, yes. We are currently developing the technology upgrades needed to be able to accurately capture multiple pieces per photo. To get the latest updates (and possibly get special early access to beta versions of the feature), join our fb community group. See the link in the top resources section of this page.
My images got stuck while uploading. What do I do?
First try to pause and resume your upload by tapping 'check it out' in the upload element on screen. Then tap the button at the bottom. You can then tap it again to resume the upload. You may also be experiencing network issues getting in the way of a successful upload. If this does not fix the issue, please send us an email at support@litterati.org that includes the model of your phone, the version of software your phone is running on, and the version of the Litterati app that you are currently using.
Please do not logout of the app or uninstall it before your upload has completed. If you do, understand that you will lose all the photos that were attempting to upload.
What are the best practices for tagging?
To tag your images, please go to your profile section of the app and scroll to the bottom section to enter your gallery. Tap into any photo to add tags to it. If the Litterati setting is active, you will see tag suggestions from our ai based litter recognition model. You are able to type and enter your own tags in addition to the suggestions. The best practice is to have 1 - 3 tags per image. The ideal would be 3 tags, 1 each to describe the object, the material, and the brand of the litter. Of course, there are times where it is unclear what kind of object it is, what material it is made from, or what the brand of it is.
Do you have an open data policy?
We have currently opened up our database as we wanted to ensure our policy serves everyone as many members of the community, including schools that use the platform, wish to keep their data private. If you are a research institution or citizen scientist who's looking for a subset of data, you can simply visit our open data portal. It has now become easy for anyone interested in helping the greater good through data to do so through our open data initiative.
My question wasn't answered. How can I reach you?
You can reach out to Litterati at support@litterati.org or send them a DM on Facebook, Instagram, or twitter. They typically respond within 1 - 2 business days.