Jan 31, 2022 07:00:00

'Project to make crows pick up cigarette butts' is planned in Sweden

Crows are known to be very clever birds, and are known to be

able to assemble disjointed parts to create useful tools, and to acquire cognitive abilities equivalent to adults faster than primates . A project to make crows collect cigarette butts and small trash using the wisdom of crows is scheduled to start in the city of Södertälje, Sweden.

Kråk or städar bort fimpar – nytt pilotprojekt planeras i Södertälje | Södertälje Science Park
https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/soedertaelje-science-park/pressreleases/kraakor-staedar-bort-fimpar-nytt-pilotprojekt-planeras-i-soedertaelje-3157145

Kråkor ska plocka fimpar i Södertälje --Dagens PS
https://www.dagensps.se/teknik/krakor-ska-plocka-fimpar-i-sodertalje/

Crows may soon be Sweden's newest litter pickers --The Local
https://www.thelocal.com/20220127/crows-may-soon-be-swedens-newest-litter-pickers/

Attempts to use the cleverness of crows to pick up trash in the town have been sought for a long time, and in 2017, a Dutch designer developed a device called 'Crowbar' that feeds when trash is put in. It is reported that there is. In addition, the French theme park in 2018, 6 birds of the crow as begin the work as garbage cleaning staff have called the topic .

Try to solve the littering problem with 'Crowbar' where food comes out when crows put cigarette butts --GIGAZINE

by Steve Herring

Swedish startup Corvid Cleaning has announced that it has developed a way to train crows to pick up cigarette butts and small debris. 'Crows are wild birds that voluntarily participate,' said Christian Gunterhansen, founder of Corvid Cleaning. 'Crows are easy to train and likely to teach each other. At the same time. The risk of accidentally eating garbage is also low. '

In a press release, Gunter Hansen said, 'By teaching crows to change food and cigarette butts, crows clean streets and squares. When crows put cigarette butts in the device, the device feeds. It is a system for exchanging goods. ' Corvid Cleaning is planning a pilot project to pick up trash using crows in cooperation with the Södertälje authorities.

'(The project) depends on finding a place to work with food waste companies in Södertäler and the opportunity to raise money,' said Thomas Ternström, Södertäler's waste disposal officer. I commented.

According to the Keep Sweden Tidy Foundation , an NPO that promotes garbage picking and recycling, 1 billion cigarette butts are dumped in the streets every year, accounting for 62% of all garbage. As a result, Swedish municipalities spend a lot of money on cleaning every year, but if crows collect garbage, that cost could be reduced.

'The estimated cost of picking up a cigarette butt is 80 ole (about 14 yen) or more per cigarette, and some people say 2 kroner (about 35 yen) if the crow is a cigarette,' said Gunter Hansen. If you can pick up cigarette butts, you may be able to reduce the cost per cigarette to 20 ole (about 3.5 yen), 'he said, claiming that it could lead to a cost reduction of as much as 75%. If the pilot program is successful, it is expected to be applied throughout Sweden as a permanent solution to the cigarette butt problem.

Ternström says he wants to start a pilot program in the spring of 2022, 'it would be interesting if this (a system that lets crows pick up butts) works in other environments as well. It's also interesting that you can teach crows to pick up cigarette butts, but you can't teach humans not to throw them to the ground. '