科技助力“光盤行動”

Multiple actions have been taken to fight food waste， but one young man is making a big difference with technology.

Liu Jichen， a student from Tsinghua University， has developed a WeChat mini-program called “Clear Your Plate”. After a meal， users can open the mini-program and take a picture of their empty plates. Once the image is recognized by the AI， students can collect points and use them to buy gifts or purchase charity meals donated to children in rural areas.

Liu and his team， together with other organizations， launched the “Clear Your Plate” campaign in last November for the third year. It has swept over 1，017 universities across the country.

The one-month campaign attracted almost 1.6 million participants and collectively reduced food waste by 862 tons and carbon emissions by 3，337 tons， The China Youth Daily reported.

The idea to develop such a mini-program came from Liu’s experience in a canteen. In 2017， he found that a restaurant would give diners who finished off their food a card and offer small gifts after a certain number of cards had been collected.

“Technological innovation is a good way to reduce food waste，” Liu thought. He organized a team of 20 members to work on the project at the end of 2017. To solve the AI’s problem of identifying photos of empty plates， the team spent half a year collecting over 100，000 samples in canteens and restaurants. In 2018， the mini-program was officially put into operation on Oct 16， World Food Day. They then launched a campaign later that year.

“There were so many unknowns in research and development. For our team members， the biggest psychological challenge was whether we were confident enough to complete it，” Liu said. They not only achieved their goal， but now， the mini-program has more than 5 million registered users， according to Liu.

Thanks to his innovative and practical actions concerning social issues， Liu， along with the other 16 members， stood out among more than 7，600 candidates around the world to be inducted into the 2020 Class of Young Leaders for the Sustainable Development Goals by the UN Office of the Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth in September.

“We hope our efforts can start a new trend among the younger generation by encouraging them to cherish their food and develop the habit of thrift，” Liu said.

“Through the campaign， we hope to inspire everyone to take action against food waste and to contribute Chinese wisdom and solutions to global food security challenges，” he added.

人們采取了諸多行動以杜絕食物浪費，但一位年輕人正在用科技極大地改變著我們的生活。

清華學生柳濟琛開發了一款名為“光盤打卡”的微信小程序。學校的學生用戶可在就餐后打開小程序，對著空盤拍照。人工智能識別出照片后，學生們就能獲得積分購買禮品或者愛心餐，捐贈給鄉村地區的孩子。

2020年11月，柳濟琛和他的團隊以及其他組織發起了第三年的“光盤打卡”活動。該活動迅速傳到了全國1017所高校。

據《中國青年報》報道，為期一個月的打卡活動吸引了近160萬參與者，共減少食物浪費862噸，減少碳排放3337噸。

柳濟琛開發這款小程序的靈感源自在一家餐廳的就餐經歷。2017年，他發現一家餐廳會給“光盤”的食客一張卡片，并在食客積累了一定數量的卡片后贈送其小禮品。

柳濟琛認為：“科技創新是減少食物浪費的一個好辦法。”他組建了一個20人的團隊，于2017年底開始了這一項目的研究。為解決人工智能識別“光盤”圖片的問題，團隊歷時半年在食堂和餐廳采集了10萬多個樣本。2018年，這款小程序在10月16日世界糧食日當天正式投入運營。年底，他們還發起了一項活動。

柳濟琛稱：“在研發過程中存在許多未知。對于我們團隊成員而言，最大的心理挑戰是我們是否有足夠的信心完成它。”據柳濟琛透露，他們不僅完成了目標，如今小程序還擁有500多萬注冊用戶。

因其富有創新、切實可行、關注社會問題的行動，2020年9月，柳濟琛以及其他16人從全球7600多名候選人中脫穎而出，入選2020年聯合國秘書長青年特使辦公室的可持續發展目標青年領袖。

柳濟琛說：“希望我們的努力可以在年輕一代中掀起新的潮流，鼓勵他們珍惜糧食，養成節約的習慣。”

他補充道：“通過這個活動，我們希望激勵每個人采取行動，反對食物浪費，并為解決全球糧食安全問題貢獻中國智慧和方案。”

Word Study

innovation /'?n?'ve??n/ n. 創新;改革

We must promote originality， inspire creativity and encourage innovation.

thrift /θr?ft/ n. 節約;節儉

They were rightly praised for their thrift and enterprise.

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