Can You Crowd Source Social Good - That's Litterati

Crowd sourcing social good? Isn't that what the higher being's job is? At Nerd Stalker, we talk a lot about the coming of vertical social networks - social networks for specific topics and socially responsible apps - ones that help the overall good of the society. We had the pleasure at SF New Tech last month to see an organization that combined the two - Litterati. Our SocialGreg aka Greg Viloria sat down with Jeff Kirschner of Litterati and got a little more in depth on the beginnings of the Litterati idea, simple workings of the application,  and just being an entrepreneur.

Pictures of Litter is Art?

"I was walking through the Oakland Hills with my two little kids and was near a creek and my daughter saw that someone..threw a plastic tub into the creak and she looked at me and said 'Daddy, that doesn't go here. ' Here I am, living in the Bay Area which is supposed to be ecologically responsible and environmentally friendly, and everywhere you look there is trash, and really, that was the moment opened my eyes that I could probably do something about it."

"Even before that when I was growing up I went to Summer Camp...my camp director would instruct all of us to pick up five pieces of trash...so you have a few hundreds of kids picking up 5 pieces of trash and within minutes you have a much cleaner camp, so why couldn't I apply that simple crowd sourcing model to the entire planet"

"I really just started by taking one photograph and what I noticed...because of instagram, everything is kind of artistic and beautiful even the mundane, event trash for that matter"

SocialGreg's Uptake

I find the concept of Litterati very simple and simple is "what sells" people tell me. I think what Litterati is trying to do is change cultural norms and consciousness through our technology. Jeff's potential value is in the data the application is collecting. I don't feel Jeff is trying to "point the finger" but to have brands who have a substantial stake in the littering use their data to make people more aware. There could be a potential where McDonald's using Litterati's data and "heat mapping" it could say to its consumers, if you "literati" a piece of trash in the "red zone" we will give you a free drink on us. Good for the consumer , good for the business and good for the planet. Many organizations, like schools and communities can even try Litter Treasure Hunts. Check it out.


Catch Litterati at http://www.litterati.org / | Follow them on Twitter:  @litterati | Like them on Facebook

Want to see more of Jeff's application? See his pitch video at SF New Tech