I Clean My Sea: A Mobile Application To Track Waste At Sea
When swimming in the sea, it is particularly unpleasant for holidaymakers to come across floating waste on the surface of the water. To remedy this problem, the city of Biarritz has set up a particularly effective waste management plan, including a collection vessel and a mobile application called I Clean My Sea. We invite you to discover this anti plastic pollution solution that other cities could adopt.
A challenge for seaside resorts
The influx of tourists does not only have positive effects on the economy of seaside towns. It also increases the costs of local authorities, especially the costs of cleanliness and waste management.
The increase in the amount of waste to be treated is proportional to the increase in the population during the summer months. For this reason, seaside resorts need to implement a seasonal waste management plan, with enhanced garbage collection on the streets and beaches.
In Biarritz, the fight against waste even continues on the water thanks to The Collector. This innovative boat collects floating trash, spotted with the help of the population and a mobile application called I Clean My Sea.
A mobilization of all users
In Biarritz, tourists and residents alike can report trash floating on the surface of the water through a dedicated mobile app.
This seaside resort on the Basque Coast chose this solution for its simplicity and effectiveness. The success of this waste detection and reporting system relies on the mobilization of all ocean users.
Everyone can make a contribution, as all you need is a smartphone and download the free mobile application I Clean My Sea to help make the coastline cleaner.
An easy to use application
The I Clean My Sea application was created by Aymeric Jouon, an oceanographer who is very invested in this cause, in order to clean up the seas through a simple and pragmatic system. He also founded a social and solidarity economy company based in Bidart in the Basque Country.
Thanks to the application, reporting waste in the oceans becomes as easy as taking a selfie! All ocean users (vacationers, boaters etc.) are invited to report plastic in the sea using their smartphone.
Just take a picture of the waste and the sailors on board The Collector collection boat will receive not only the picture but also the position of the waste (as the pictures are geotagged) and a prediction of their drift trajectory.
The innovative vessel The Collector has already been deployed in the Basque Country and has collected over 2 tons of waste at sea during the summer of 2021.
The recovered plastic is recovered by specialized companies. This plastic waste is recycled into sustainable products such as water bottles, t-shirts or vests.
Why participate?
Thanks to the I Clean My Sea application, everyone can become an actor in the protection of the ocean. If you spend your vacations near Biarritz, you can of course use this application to guide the boat The Collector and its crew in their work of collecting floating waste.
But, even if you live or vacation in other parts of the world, note that you are encouraged to use the app wherever you see floating trash.
In fact, every detection made via this mobile app contributes to the European Space Agency's (ESA) creation of an algorithm for detecting floating trash from satellite images
The app has already identified and collected a lot of plastic bag debris. Yet, if not collected, they become even more polluting microplastics. That's why the war on plastic waste is won upstream, when the waste is still visible.
There is an urgent need to act. In a report published in February 2022, the WWF draws up an alarming report on the state of the oceans and stresses that 'all parts of the oceans, from the surface to the deep sea, from the poles to the coasts of the most isolated islands' are affected by plastic pollution.
