A high school sophomore living in Hawaii created an app that makes setting up beach cleanups easy.
Arjun Sharma has already traveled the world several times. And he was shocked to witness the large amounts of trash and plastic produced by our civilization every day around the planet.
"I have built the CleanMyBeach app to help solve the compelling problem of plastic pollution, community by community, all across the world," Arjun Sharma tells SurferToday.
"Living in Hawaii grew in me my passion for ocean conservation and, after participating in a few beach cleanups organized by the local aquarium and other organizations, I realized that there was no good way of addressing the problem at its source locally."
CleanMyBeach is a smartphone app that features all the beach cleanups created by people and communities across the world using Google Maps visual integration.
It is targeted at citizens in general, but also at school students, aquariums, environmental and non-profit organizations, companies, etc.
Think Globally, Act Locally
Despite his young age, Sharma is deeply focused on driving awareness of the effects of plastic pollution.
"I am looking to drive awareness of the effects of plastic pollution. Several million tons of non-degradable plastics arrive in the ocean each year, polluting it at a rapid rate and hurting aquatic life," adds Arjun Sharma.
"Beaches are also harmed by this plastic pollution, because of the plastic making its way back to the shore, making it harmful to human life."
"Several organizations around the world organize beach cleanups in their area in trying to mitigate plastic pollution and trash from the beaches, but they are unable to have an impact on a large enough scale."
"Therefore, I am looking to spread the word among communities about how CleanMyBeach can help community organizers and event participants be much more effective in addressing this problem," concludes the young software developer.
In the future, Sharma plans to add new features.
For instance, he wants to use the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) databases to statistically analyze tides and generate recommended times to organize beach cleanups at a specific location.
The CleanMyBeach app is already available and free for download for Android devices and will soon be ported to iOS.
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