Back to Testing this time with V2

We are finally back and Testing Litter Logger again. This time we are partnering with a school to help make a difference. These are super exciting times. If you are a part of a school and want to be a part of the trial, we would be glad to partner with you.
Sign up today, by sending an email to support@litterlogger.org.

We have created new features, such as

  1. being able to chat in respective teams (so you don’t need other media tools to discuss next locations etc)
  2. letting teams request to be linked to organizations
  3. letting teams be hidden or public, along with securing a team with pin code

These features are in addition to the standard ones of:

  • Member meed to request to be part of a team
  • Team recording of activity, and number of logging or picking that has gone on in the prior 30 days
  • Recording number of items picked as an individual and location

We have also opened up the “map” view to anyone, which allows all logged data to be aggregated and displayed and differing levels for the last 30 days.

All in all, we are looking forward to continuing development after a 2-year break during covid, when we were unable to meet up freely. Let’s use the time now, while we can, in safe ways, meetup and …

Make Positive Change

LIDs (Location IDs)

Have you ever needed a way of aggregating map data, or points on a mat using latitude and longitude? This mechanism solves the problem of having to define a grid matrix database and still lets you aggregate it up.

This is a mechanism to store Locations in a calculable textual format , that does not need a pre-defined grid table reference.

Traditionally one would create a grid and number them so everyone knows what the address is. This is a different way, but oh so useful, as these are “aggregable” IDs. What that means is, the ID length itself, works much like a number’s decimal place and something you can “group by”.

The key concept to this unique method, is that you are not storing a location number (i.e. not an looked up address), but the path to a location at different levels.

Let me use an analogy, back in the day, before mobiles, if a visitor from another city is coming to your house and you are giving directions to your house. You would not give your post code or address but you would direct them from a commonly known identifiable point of location. You would first go through your references of what you thought would be commonly known objects, or landmarks within the city. “Do you know the church on the corner with the big clock”, or “where the statue is with the two giraffes”, or obviously the train station they may be arriving in. From that known point you begin to describe the direction they must take.

This approach is similar, lets say we use a quadrant (2×2) box, this is the quickest and gives reasonable granularity, if you needed a shorter address you can use a 6×6 grid, and number them a-z0-9 giving you 36 blocks.

2x2LID In this example I will use the (2×2) quadrant approach, and will label them a,b,c,d from left to right, top to bottom.

Lets Say, my GPS tells me I am where the red dot is which is 55.01 latitude and -3.02 longitude, I will divide the world into quadrants, using +90 to -90 Latitude and -180 to + 180 Longitude, with a cross section at 0,0. This is always the known starting point.

Calulating the 2x2LID
Then from there we decide, which quadrant my location is in, but my point’s latitude is greater or equal to 0, and my point’s longitude is less than and equal to 0. if so I am “a”, else check “b”, “c” and or “d” using a similar “if” statement methods.

This will give us the first letter… in this case letter a.

Next we go to the next level, and redraw a new imaginary cross section, halving the quadrant each time, now within the quadrant of a, we move the cross section from 0,0 to up and left (half the width) which is (45 lat, -90 lng)

We do this, for as many times as you want… but now dividing the width by 2 each time and decide in which direction do move. In this example I see I am top, right, so the next letter is b. I then divide the width, and point the pointer. check, divide, move; check, divide, move.

Repeating this I get the next letter d, as the point is in the lower right quadrant, and again lower right, so d again.

So the resulting word, at length 4, is abdd.

Why is this powerful?

  1. This is easily calculated
  2. No reference to customized proprietary database
  3. This is aggregable, so you just need to choose your word length in the database to get a grouped number of points.
  4. This is done by 1 measure, that can be easily index and thus super fast.
  5. The length of the word is up to you, and thus it can be to the 50th letter (or more) , which would be a quadrant width of roughly 35.5342422154 nano meter, at the equator. On a 2×2 grid, 30 letters is more than enough, on a 6×6 grid, 6 letters is about right. However you can decide how big your quadrants will be.

Limitation

Guessing relative points in a neighboring cell, in another quadrant(i.e. outside your path) is not possible at all times:

The dividing mechanism (which allows for grouping), for example near the 0,0 markers, allows neighboring markers to have completely different words,

Solution 1: of course you can calculate easily what the neighbor cells are at the level you want, quickly and easily. Which means you still don’t have to go back to a paid database or service.

Word Compare

Starting with the first letter a or b, creates a significantly different word. it could mean that cells, at equator, or Greenwich meridian line could be relatively close or meters apart but have completely different words. i.e. two points such as (0.1 lat ,0.1 lng ) and (0.1 lat, -0.1 lng) could be adddd… and bcccc,… so although they are physically close to each other, the could be “worlds” apart in word terms.

Future Devleopment

Please go to GitHub, to find out more about what more you can do with LIDS and help us make an open source mechanism to calculate every address anywhere.

(6x4x2)2LID
This could be to use a 6×6 for the first 4 characters and 4 x 4 for the next 4 and 2×2 for the last 4. Although this would create a massive amount of complexity in calculating your word… so not great, but would allow shorter words to get to relevant size grids.

6x6LID
The use of a 6×6 grid, create a great address people could use and remember, but does not serve well for creating a number of levels for aggregating data in. this is also much more complex to code. If it were me, through I would definitely use this as an address tool if you needed to code for areas of unaddressed data.

github code example

Pre-launch Testers Needed

App Google Play Image

We need testers to try the Litter Logger App

If you have a android account, or have an Apple phone, you can sign up to be a tester. We are needing People to Sign up and give their feedback through Google Play and Apple’s Testflight testing platforms, or direct through email.

Our Request:
Please use the contact us page on the website to reach out and request to be added as a tester. This is your opportunity to join up and help shape Litter Logger App for the better.

Details We Need:

Name & Surname
Google/Apple email
Individual / Organisation (organisation email address – to register the organisation)

What will I need to Test?

  1. Login (apple / Google or direct email)
  2. Create a Team / Request to Join a team
  3. Await for approval
  4. Continue to log litter, log picked up litter.
  5. Does the graph work well
  6. Feedback on user expierence

How do I give Feedback?

You can either use contact form on the website, or directly through Test Flight/Google Play.

Any More Testing?

Litter Logger also has a unique way of aggregating data across the map. This is currently in pilot so you may need more information on how to use the graph. If you would like to find out where is the best place to find dense litter, you can use the heatmap. BUT!!! this is not yet calibrated for many users, so will continue to work over time. Please contact us and let us know if you want to try out the heatmap.

Eco Friendly Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day has become a very consumer-driven celebration, with greetings cards, chocolates and cut flowers being the go to gift for couples. However, there are many other ways to celebrate your love to your partner which are kinder to the environment, as well as the bank balance. Why not try one of the ideas below this Valentine’s Day?

Get creative

If you’re a creative type, why not create some art for your partner? Using whatever medium you prefer – paper, canvas, fabric, paints, pencil – you could try to recreate their face, or produce something based on their passions.

Have a romantic meal together

Cooking together can be fun! Why not cut the gifts and restaurant meal and instead enjoy a romantic meal together at home? You could cook for your partner, or you could decide to cook together, perhaps enjoying an alcoholic beverage or too as you create your meal. Opt for organic produce to keep it eco-friendly.

Attend an event together

Give the gift of an experience, and decide to attend an event together. This could be a music gig, an art gallery, exhibition, the cinema, or anything else that takes your fancy. Most events offer e-tickets now, meaning you don’t need to produce a piece of card or paper when you arrive either.

Make an eco-friendly gift

If you’d like to give a gift but don’t want to spend a lot, why not give something homemade? This could be better received than a bought gift as it requires more thought and time. Ideas for a gift include food items (jam, chutney, peanut butter), their favourite cake or cookies, jewellery, bath bombs, body scrub, and anything that uses up any scraps of fabric you have.

Buy an eco-friendly gift

If you would like to buy your partner a gift, I’m not going to stop you! In fact, here are a few suggestions for you. Why not treat your loved one to something that they can reuse, which will help them be eco-friendly throughout the year? Try a kit for packing a zero waste lunch, chilly’s water bottle or bamboo toothbrush? We here at Litter Logger wish you a very happy and eco-friendly Valentine’s Day! Do you have some more ideas for eco-friendly celebrations? Let us know!

World Wetlands Day

The 2nd of February marks 23 years since World Wetlands Day was established in 1997.

Our wetland areas are one of the most productive habitats on earth – vital for a number of species of birds, amphibians and mammals. Not to mention they support the cultivation of rice, a staple for half the worlds diet. While simultaneously providing water filtration, storm protection and flood control to humanity.

Without our wetlands cities will spend millions treating their citizens water, and deal with the financial, as well as physical destruction brought with flooding that our wetlands could have prevented.

More than 476,000 acres of wetlands have been protected through the Ramsar Convention – the only treaty world wide devoted to protecting the unique eco system. 🤝

We invite you to join us in doing our bit in reducing our plastic usage – saving our wetlands for future generations 🌎

Global Recycling Day 2019

Global Recycling Day 2019 is fast approaching. Now more than ever it is important to celebrate the importance that recycling plays in preserving primary resources (Water, air, coal, oil, natural gas and minerals). Aiming to bring people together and champion ways to put our planet first, Global Recycling Day highlights the need to consider recyclable materials as resource rather than waste, celebrating the power of the “Seventh Resource” – the goods we recycle every day.

This year’s theme is ‘Recycling into the Future’, focusing on the power of youth, education and innovation in ensuring a brighter future for the planet. By focusing 2019 on youth and innovation, the Global Recycling Foundation will encourage the world to look towards the impact that today’s young people and future technologies can have on recycling.

It is important we all do our bit, after all, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, released a special report in October 2019, on the impact of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The IPCC report says that based on humanity’s current use of fossil fuels, they’re highly confident the world will reach those levels between 2030 and 2052. Warming to 1.5C will mean warmer average temperatures and increased flood hazards in some regions as well as biodiversity loss and food security impacts. Global warming to 2C above pre-industrial levels would exacerbate these effects. We have 12 years to save the planet that we have spent the last 200,000 years or so taking for granted.

A busy lunch break today spent sending out marketing pack’s across the world to like-minded people looking to participate on the 18th of March. In line with this year’s theme – the organisations focus has been on Educating the youth of today about the power of the Seventh Resource is a top global priority – and one that we are championing for Global Recycling Day 2019. There are two main ways that the organisation is looking to involve the youth in this year’s campaign:

1.Utilising the global language of football, and sport, to unite the youth of today across the world in our movement

2.Through providing materials for education professionals to use in schools and clubs around Global Recycling Day on the 18 March 2019

Visit https://www.globalrecyclingday.com/ to find out more and get involved with things such as the #RecyclingGoalsChallenge