Strolling crows to help Sweden’s streets get rid of cigarette butts
Crows show their smart again, this time with theirs ultimately long competence to use to help the environment. The wild birds are trained to pick up cigarette butts as part of a pilot project in Södertälje, near Stockholm.
The newest eco-warriors on the block will deposit the discarded butts and other small pieces of debris in a machine, designed by the Swedish startup Corvid Cleaning. In return for their efforts, they get a tasty treat.
“They are wild birds that participate on a voluntary basis,” says Christian Günther-Hanssen, founder of Corvid Cleaning, to Swedish newswire TT.
At the same time as they do their part for the planet – and a snack – the birds also save the city a nice penny.
The initiative can reduce the current costs of picking up cigarette butts by at least 75 percent, Günther-Hanssen estimates.
– The estimate for the cost of picking up cigarette butts today is around 80 öre [$0.09] or more per cigarette smoke, some say 2 kroner [$0.22]. If the crows pick up cigarette butts, it might be 20 öre [$0.022] per cigarette smoke, says Günther-Hanssen to TT.
A shocking 1 billion cigarette butts are scattered on the streets of Sweden every year – which accounts for 62 percent of all garbage, according to Keep the Sweden Clean Foundation. In Södertälje, SEK 20 million ($ 2.1 million) is spent on street cleaning every year.
Join the army, or murder, of crows picking debris, cherries picked for the task because of their infamous intellect.
“They are easier to teach and there is also a greater chance that they will learn from each other. At the same time, there is a lower risk that they accidentally eat rubbish, says Günther-Hanssen.
Crows can build and use tools, bend wire, use sticks, and also understand zero as a quantity. Not bad for a bird without a caw-llege degree (sorry).
If their remediation work in Södertälje is successful, it is hoped that the project can be spread to the rest of the city, and perhaps the country.