Thanks to the Net'Léman application, the Association pour la Sauvegarde du Léman (ASL) wants to involve civil society in collecting data on litter in order to better understand where it comes from and find solutions to curb this scourge.
The new Net'Léman application is designed for both spontaneous collections, such as during a walk, and large-scale collections organised by a group of motivated people. Easy to use, it encourages young and old alike to do their bit. The functions allow you to enter data in just a few clicks, or even to give more details and feed the database with very comprehensive data (weather, type of soil, type of waste, etc.).
In collaboration with the HEIG-Vaud, the ASL will be able to compile precise statistics in order to count and gain a better understanding of waste flows in the Lake Geneva region. This invaluable data will be used for scientific studies and will make it possible to target the ASL's awareness-raising and information campaigns, the aim being to reduce the amount of waste discharged into our environment.
10,000 kg of plastic waste from littering in Lake Geneva every year
A study by the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) published in 2011 indicates that the total costs of litter in Switzerland amount to around CHF 200 million per year. In the Lake Geneva region, population growth, increased mobility outside the home for work and leisure activities, and changing consumer habits have inevitably led to an increase in the volume of litter.
According to a study published at the end of December 2018 by the ASL on the modelling of plastic flows in Lake Geneva, nearly 50,000 kg per year end up in the waters of Lake Geneva, of which 10,000 kg of plastic waste from littering.
TheApp Net'Léman provides the following information on each sort category:
Thanks to theApp Net'LémanThis makes it easy for everyone to collect, sort and count the rubbish they have collected, and to share the results with the whole community using the application. In this way, each participant can see where other clean-ups have taken place and the results of each action. Users will also be able to access a wealth of information on waste sorting and nearby sorting points. Finally, the App will also provide information on the different types of waste and suggest solutions for reducing waste and upcycling.
To ensure a minimal ecological footprint and greater security for users, ASL has opted for PWA (Progressive Web App) technology. The Net'Léman App is hosted and distributed from Switzerland. In fact, the application can be downloaded directly from the Internet browser netleman.app instead of going through a 'store'. All the data is hosted on Swiss servers belonging to a company that pursues socially and environmentally responsible development. Users can save the PWA to their favourites, with an icon appearing on their home screen in the same way as for native applications.
To bring this project to life, and in line with the same participatory approach, the ASL used the SIG Impact platform, a new crowdfunding platform that enables projects with a social or environmental vocation to find funding. The campaign was a resounding success, raising CHF 57,923.
Net'Léman, the major lake clean-up organised by the Association pour la Sauvegarde du Léman (ASL), has since 2005 removed more than 100,000 kilos of waste from the lake, thanks to the participation of divers and shore-based volunteers of all ages and backgrounds.
Today, the urgent need to take action on an individual scale to combat the abundance of waste polluting the natural environment is prompting many people to get involved in practical ways on a daily basis, either alone or in a group. In response to these growing initiatives, ASL has created a mobile application and a clean-up kit to make it easier for people to take action and collect data on where the waste comes from.
Rue des Cordiers 2
1207 Geneva
Espace Léman opening times
Nature centre dedicated to the lake
Monday to Friday, 11am to 5pm
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