NORFOLK, Va. — It's no secret: trash is a big issue in Norfolk.
"It has grown exponentially, probably due to the pandemic," said Sarah Sterzing, the program manager of Keep Norfolk Beautiful. "We're seeing more PPE. We're seeing people using more disposables."
Sterzing told 13News Now her team has tried almost everything.
"Part of the problem in litter abatement is that we've been doing the same thing over and over again," she said. "As we know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and getting the same outcome."
Sterzing hopes a new project will create a new outcome.
Litterati, a litter data company, chose Norfolk as one of three cities for its City Fingerprint Project using the Analyze platform. The city received a $50,000 grant to research trash patterns across Norfolk.
Nic Esposito with Litterati said researchers can track trash through their app when people send in a picture.
"When it goes through the machine learning, we're able to look at the material, object and brand of the litter," he said. "They can start getting to the heart of the problem. What is the root cause of this problem? Where is this coming from?"
The company will identify which prevention methods are working and which aren't. Sterzing hopes this will pave the way for a cleaner city.
"We personally, independently, individually have a huge impact on our environment and it can cause real damage, permanent damage that we won't be able to mitigate," Sterzing said.
Litterati expects to provide a final report with litter prevention recommendations by the fall of next year.