You can cleanup anywhere outside! We recommend choosing nature areas (think forests, streams, nature parks, lakes, trails, etc.) because this is where more wildlife and vegetation need protecting. That being said, cleaning up in urban areas and neighborhoods is also very beneficial for local communities! Simply stepping out your front door and picking up trash near you is so helpful - and convenient! Picking up litter near roadways is also extremely helpful - and there is so much litter by our roads. Food wrappers attract nearby wildlife too close to cars, which results in roadkill, and litter blowing in the wind can also cause automobile accidents, so picking up litter along roadways helps to prevent these things from happening. Just remember to be careful, wear a vest, and always be aware of your surroundings. If you're traveling and want to help the community you're visiting, that's also a perfect time to use the app. This is called "voluntourism" and it helps the people, animals, and environment that you're vacationing in! And who doesn't love a good beach cleanup?!

You can pick up the trash with your hands (safely), wear gloves, use a reacher device, or use the inside of your trash bag to pick up the litter. Then, place the trash in your trash bag. Continue to collect as much trash in your bag as your heart desires! Remember to wash/sanitize your hands afterwards.

Nope! The more the merrier, but every little bit helps. Even if it's just picking up one piece of trash you see while you're on a walk, that's awesome.

There is an option at the bottom of the CleanUp page: "Already Cleaned Up? Click Here". Use this to upload a picture of your cleanup from your phone's camera, add your estimated litter count, and submit! You will still be able to share your cleanup to the Trash Talk. This batch submission option comes in handy if you go on a larger cleanup and don't want to take individual pictures in the app, or you went on a cleanup and forgot to use the app. Please note that these cleanups do not count towards volunteer hours.

To use the Litter CleanUp app, simply click the big green "Start CleanUp" button on the app and take a picture of each piece of litter you collect. You can pick up as much litter as your heart desires! When you're done cleaning up and properly disposed of all the trash, click "Submit". A pop-up will allow you to add an optional caption to your Trash Talk post, otherwise you can click "Done". And voila! You helped clean the planet!

To view your cleanup history, click "View History" on the Profile page. Our machine learning algorithm (named Oscar) will automatically approve or deny your cleanup. If your cleanup is approved, the cleanup will be green in your history and your total trash count will automatically update. Don’t worry if your cleanup was mistakenly marked as invalid - we always manually verify any cleanups that don’t get automatically approved in the app.

To request a volunteer certificate, please email mik@cleanplanetproject.org.

The volunteer hours counter on the app is meant to be an estimate, so don't worry if it isn't perfect. Please reach out to mik@cleanplanetproject.org if you need verification of your total volunteer hours and/or a volunteer certificate. How volunteer hours are calculated in the app: Each picture taken in the app has a timestamp on it, which is what is used to calculate your total time spent actively volunteering on the app. The clock is essentially "running" as long as you take 1 picture every 3 minutes of the litter you pick up. This is true even if you close the app and re-open it. So if you close the app for longer than 3 minutes or keep the app open and don't take a picture within 3 minutes of the last, your volunteer hour clock will be "paused". That being said, you can totally go on multiple cleanups and your volunteer hours will reflect a total count among all of your cleanups.

Yes! Many of our volunteers are students who need to fulfill hours for school classes, the National Honor Society (NHS), etc. The Litter CleanUp volunteer program is a great opportunity for busy students who have to juggle classes, homework, clubs, work, sports, etc. because you can use the app to volunteer whenever and wherever you can. Every little bit helps! Please use the volunteer hours tracker on the app to verify your hours with your school, and confirm with your teacher that this verification is allowed.

Yes! The Litter CleanUp volunteer program is a great corporate volunteer opportunity. It requires less planning on the employer's end and can be done at a time that works for all employees. Employees can simply download the app and volunteer together at a convenient location near the workplace.

If your app isn't loading, close the app and reopen it. If it still won't load, then you may not have service. If this is the case, don't worry! You can still submit cleanups. These images will be uploaded to our servers when you have service again. Some network features, such as the Trash Talk and profile pictures, may not work properly when you don't have service.