OpenLitterMap.com – Open Data on Plastic Pollution with Blockchain Rewards (Littercoin)

Human activities on the environment have been so severe that we (humans) have literally defined the “Anthropocene” [27]. The Anthropocene is the latest epoch in the geologic history of the Earth, characterised exclusively by humans’ impact on the environment. Although there are many factors involved (e.g. climate change, deforestation, etc.), perhaps nothing characterises the Anthropocene more than plastic pollution, which was first recognized to have a global distribution in the marine environment as early as 1975 [21]. In cities, nicotine has become a recognized pollutant of urban waters because of the trillions of plastic-tipped cigarette butts dropped around the world [9]. Since the beginning of commercial plastic production in the 1950s, the annual global production of plastic rose to 30-million tonnes by 1988 and to 280–299 million tonnes by 2014 [19, 26]. In this time we have embedded plastic, potentially permanently, right across our only habitable planet. Recent research from The Ocean Cleanup¹ in the Pacific Ocean suggests that the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, the largest accumulation of plastic in the oceans, spans an area of about 1.6 million km² weighing about 80,000 t, which is 4 and 16 times larger than previous estimates and is now said to be rapidly accumulating more plastic [16]. On land, litter, or plastic pollution, costs taxpayers millions in many countries every year for cleanup intervention and management as well as potentially infinitely more in biodiversity and ecosystem service loss. The UNEP [26] reports that globally, 22–43% of plastic is disposed of in landfills, which have a limited capacity thus increasing the costs of waste management and waste security over time. The World Bank estimated that this quantity of waste and its related cost will likely double from 2012 to 2025 [11]. Despite most plastic originating on land, plastic pollution is now one of the most serious threats for healthy marine ecosystem functioning [1, 14, 20, 25, 26]. Traditionally, because of spatial and temporal restrictions, it was only possible for scientists to make inferences on the spatial distribution of litter based on small samples of data. Today, hundreds of millions of people are equipped with incredibly accurate geospatial data collectors, which can be used to map and crowdsource geospatial data not just on plastic pollution, but to some extent, the litter caused by the products and economic activity of a handful of global corporations. Depending on the nature of projects and the data collection methods, this crowdsourcing of data is commonly referred to as Citizen Science [13] and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI). Crowdsourced data is a paradigmatic shift in how knowledge, particularly that of a geospatial nature, is created and shared throughout society [7]. The need for geospatial information to mitigate and raise awareness about our plastic footprint is urgent. In 2010 alone, it has been estimated that between 8 and 12 million tonnes of plastic and other types of waste entered the oceans. If current trends continue, this figure is expected to continue to increase exponentially potentially reaching ~ 70 million tonnes by 2025 [14]. Some authors have estimated that 90% of plastic waste entering the ocean is from just 10 rivers. However, the same authors acknowledge there are large uncertainties with these estimates because of a lack of data [23]. The Ocean Cleanup estimate the annual global input of plastic into the ocean by rivers is between 1.15–2.41 million tonnes, acknowledging that the top 20 polluting rivers are primarily located in Asia, which the authors account for up to 67% of the global input [17]. However, these studies focus largely on population and waste management metrics and because of a lack of geospatial data on plastic pollution, these approaches may be largely unable to appropriately characterize contemporary anthropogenic litter [12].

Many efforts have been made at involving citizens as data collectors. OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a landmark project that enables citizens to collect and share geospatial data. In 2008, Haklay & Weber anticipated that OSM would provide a good example of the social and technical aspects of user-generated content communities [10]. In fact, their opinion turned out correct as several research and operational projects have been employing OSM data and its concept in data collection (e.g. OpenLitterMap, OpenTreeMap, OpenCycleMap, etc.). More recent studies present tools and methods based on OSM to enrich the database with detailed information about the accessibility of roads and buildings [2, 18, 22]. Please note that these studies are only a few examples of a wide variety of research carried out in several application domains such as emergency response [8], urban studies [3] as well as noise pollution [15].² In terms of plastic pollution, NGO Coastwatch³ lead by Karin Dubsky of Trinity College Dublin has been pioneering citizen science plastic bottle mapping on Irish beaches since at least 1991, and coastal biodiversity monitoring more generally since the 1970s. During their annual survey in September 2017, over 8800 plastic bottles were found at 583 sections of the Irish coastline (3.6 per 100 m)⁴ which has to be taken into consideration following the large increase in the number of beach cleans over the years who focus more on removal than statistics. One authoritative example of geospatial information reporting is the “See it, Say it” app from the Environmental Protection Agency in Ireland⁵ that can be used to report incidents of illegal dumping or litter blackspots with a Local Authority. Local authorities have advanced mapping capabilities and are usually associated with managing waste and pollution, however Local Authorities are not typically interested in mapping the widespread abundance and distribution of litter caused by the economic activity of global corporations in a detailed, open and accessible manner. To fill this gap, several startup, research and institutional efforts have emerged with a specific focus on crowdsourcing geospatial data on litter. One example, Litterati,⁶ claim to have crowdsourced over 1 million Instagram-based hashtags of litter which are available to explore on a global map. However, none of this data is available for download and it is not clear if and how irrelevant hashtags are filtered out. User-defined hashtags have become popular as a means to crowdsource data as existing and established services such as Instagram and Twitter enable people to share geographic information for free. While hashtagging opens up a wide possibility of feature classifications, in general, user-defined hashtags are error prone, arbitrary, inconsistent, computationally expensive, lack quantification, and ultimately limit data quality and utility. In terms of accessible crowdsourced and scientific data that is available for download, the largest include Litterbase⁷ from the Alfred Wegner Institute (AWI) of Germany who have collated data from 792 publications on marine litter [24]; Marine Debris Tracker⁸ from the United States’ National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who have crowdsourced over 1.2 million tags of marine debris; Project AWARE⁹ (0.96 million pieces from PADI); and Clean Swell¹⁰ (37 million lbs. of trash removed and recorded) from the Ocean Conservancy. Many projects have focused significantly more on marine litter than its’ pre-marine terrestrial and corporate characteristics. If we are to improve our relationship with and ability to respond to plastic pollution, significantly more emphasis needs to be put on crowdsourcing and producing detailed and accessible knowledge on the geospatial characteristics of plastic pollution in cities, along riverbanks, across beaches and coastlines, around schools and hospitals, national parks, protected areas and anywhere else where plastic pollution can be found. To advance our ability at understanding and tackling plastic pollution, all data at OpenLitterMap goes through a verification process before being made completely free and open for anyone to download (Fig. 1; Open Database License); All data is pre-defined based on independent research; OpenLitterMap builds its list of locations dynamically while maintaining native languages and alphabets where possible (a process that is redeemable in Littercoin); All verified data is automatically and dynamically analyzed by space, time, location, and behaviour everywhere by design; OpenLitterMap includes litter presence to determine if litter has been taken away or if it is still remaining; And OpenLitterMap is the first to reward contributors with an original blockchain token Littercoin as a reward for the production of open geospatial data. Not only can we now crowdsource and produce open geospatial data on litter at a global scale but with a potential monetary or utility incentive that is being made possible through blockchain technology (See: Section 2.1.3 Littercoin), we might be able to incentivize and facilitate the rapid production of geospatial data at a global scale at an unprecedented rate never seen before and get a good picture of many parts of the worlds litter in as little as 1 or 2 h. However, if we are to achieve this level of open data at a global scale one basic question needs to be asked. Who will cover the costs of hosting open data and financing the development of OpenLitterMap? Is open data sustainable or is “ClosedLitterMap” a more realistic paradigm? Can we use this data to enforce polluter pays principles to generate necessary revenue? To achieve some degree of sustainability, a non-profit, the OpenLitterMap Foundation is being established. This legal entity will be able to accept monthly crowdfunding contributions. Just like the OpenStreetMap Foundation, this entity will be able to improve and democratize the development of the OpenLitterMap ecosystem by giving members a voice to guide and promote future developments.¹¹ If the reader would like to see progress they are encouraged to participate in crowdfunding the development of OpenLitterMap with small monthly micro-financial contributions at openlittermap.com/signup with as little as €5 a month. Without support, the future of OpenLitterMap is uncertain [16].

OpenLitterMap.com (Registered 27th July 2015, Launched 15th April 2017) rewards users with Littercoin for doing the work of collecting, mapping, processing and producing open geospatial data on an increasing variety of pre-defined types of litter including corporate brands anywhere. This process is currently accomplished through a web-app, which is built mobile first and available on all devices at openlittermap.com. To ensure data quality, all data goes through a manual verification process, which is being done by a small team of trained volunteers. This verified data is being used to develop machine-learning algorithms that will make manual processing and verification easier. However, without an immediate and continued source of funding the future of OpenLitterMap is uncertain.

Urban litter mapping is a new field of GIScience and OpenLitterMap offers an intricate way of mapping and producing open geospatial data on a limited but increasing variety of contemporary anthropogenic litter including corporate brands anywhere. All available data has gone through a verification process to ensure quality control before being released as free, open, and accessible for anyone to access through maps or CSV (Comma Separated Value) downloads. Although processing and verification is currently a manual process, this is being done to develop a trusted database that can train machine-learning algorithms to make manual processing less cumbersome. It is hoped that mapped and open data on plastic pollution can raise awareness about and find solutions to plastic pollution, which has been of urgent concern for decades. The maps can be used as educational tools to communicate the distribution and abundance of litter and the data can be downloaded for free and used for any purpose. Although research with OpenLitterMap data is largely unexplored, there are a large variety of pending research questions. For example, although data remains low and is prone to observer bias, experimentation with the platform could prove insightful. Do new users who may have previously littered change their behaviour after being exposed to the maps or data collection process? What spatial relationships can be identified between OpenLitterMap and OpenStreetMap data? Do different types of litter exhibit particular patterns with distance from cafés, supermarkets, bus stops or corner stores? Can this information be used to change how plastic retailers must account for the waste they facilitate through their economic activity? What influence do socio-economic characteristics, such as income, demographics or the deprivation index have on litter? Can litter data improve our measurement of the deprivation index? How effective are bin catchments at reducing littering, and could these services be more appropriately located elsewhere? Where are the high-risk areas where litter is more likely to enter the ocean? How does litter change throughout the seasons? How does city, suburban or rural litter differ by day and night, by the seasons, or by weekday and weekend? How does litter move across space and time? Has management previously identified these trends and are they informed to respond appropriately? How well does this data correlate with previous sampling efforts? These are but a few examples of the research potential provided by open litter data. By producing open data on litter we can empower the geospatial community to explore issues such as these. But to achieve that, crowdfunding, data processing, capacity building and technological developments need to be supported. New community events are needed, such as the “Global OpenLitterMapping Marathon” that anyone anywhere can participate in every Saturday from 2 to 4 pm.¹⁷

According to the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), 80% of marine litter originates on land (2008/56/EC) [5]. However, in 1975 alone, it has been reported that over 161,400 t of plastic fishing gear and synthetic packaging were dumped into the ocean by fishing fleets [4]. By 2014, it has been estimated that at least 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic were floating around in the upper layers of the ocean [6]. Much of the millions of tonnes marine litter floating around somewhere in the oceans has only begun to degrade, which unless removed will continue to break up and persist as smaller and smaller pieces indefinitely. As plastic fragments in the oceans, it is likely to become extremely more problematic, more difficult, and more expensive to try and remove. This warrants a call for technological, socio-economic and collective innovation putting particular focus on the pre-marine terrestrial characteristics of plastic pollution which can be used to communicate litter with people in the areas they are most familiar with. Urgent focus needs to be put on stopping additional plastic reaching the oceans, which should prove significantly cheaper than trying to deal with it later. As well as knowing when and where to apply and maximize our cleanup efforts by physically picking up, capturing and filtering out as much plastic as possible, we need geospatial knowledge to improve our ability at stopping plastic entering landfills and the marine environment where it becomes extremely problematic. OpenLitterMap is not the only litter mapping platform out there, but it is the only one that verifies all data; makes all verified data free and open; dynamically applies a weighted hexagonal spatial grid at the city layer, which can be filtered by the day and toggled by behaviour; and rewards contributors with an original blockchain token that is generated exclusively from the production of open data. Thanks to $1000 startup credits from Amazon Web Services, anyone can currently upload 1000 images a day. However, this is not sustainable and future of OpenLitterMap is uncertain. Despite this, OpenLitterMap could easily be sustained through a micro-financial crowdfunding campaign if society thinks this platform is important and should be maintained. Although Local Authorities could be the largest consumers of this data, they are not typically interested in challenging the status quo and revealing how polluted their cities are by the products of global corporations. Until recently, litter mapping has been taboo and not seen as being good for business. However, with the introduction of gamification and Littercoin, litter mapping could generate commercial success for supporting organisations. OpenLitterMap has not had much feedback from the geospatial community. Therefore, pending updates may become more informed through experimentation, feedback and review. The data types were carefully chosen from years of independent research and are continually being improved following newly identified items and valuable community feedback. To generate additional discussion, an independent review of all of the different litter platforms and methodologies would make a welcome addition to the litter mapping dialogue and help the geospatial community improve our efforts at tackling plastic pollution.

Littering costs taxpayers millions in nearly every country every year for clean up intervention and management, and trillions more in the loss of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and our general well-being, productivity, and mental health. Despite first being recognized to have a global distribution in the marine environment nearly half a century ago, the amount of plastic entering the marine environment is expected to increase exponentially if current trends continue. Cleanups and removal efforts need to remain ongoing but to improve decisions and behaviour, new insights are needed about our geospatial relationship with plastic. OpenLitterMap empowers anyone with a smartphone with the ability to generate cryptocurrency by mapping and producing open geospatial data on plastic pollution and the brands of a handful of global corporations anywhere. This platform is being developed independently by one self-taught developer and makes the mapping and provision of accurate geospatial data on plastic pollution openly available to everyone. Although the production of open data is currently tedious and only achievable through manual processing on a web-app, there are additional technological developments underway that will enable the rapid production of verified open litter data on a global scale. Machine learning might eliminate the need for manual processing and verification altogether. Native mobile apps for Android and iOS are also being developed. At the same time, OpenLitterMap is trying to define a monetary blockchain incentive to make the mapping of plastic pollution significantly more appealing. A whitepaper on Littercoin will follow this article outlining this vision in more detail. However, for significant technological progress to be achieved, and for OpenLitterMap to survive, this platform needs community support. In lieu of a grant or commercial features, crowdfunding is a realistic way of financing developments through the forthcoming non-profit OpenLitterMap Foundation. Feedback and support from the geospatial community is particularly welcome to facilitate a conversation about how we can find and develop solutions to the plastic problem that is probably available right outside your door.

• Project Name: OpenLitterMap

• Project Homepage: openlittermap.com

• Operating System: Platform Independent

• Programming Languages: PHP, JavaScript, HTML, CSS

• Other Requirements: Only geotagged images can be submitted.

• Licence: ODbL – Open Database Licence, see openlittermap.com/terms