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(dòng)以杜絕食物浪費(fèi)，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(xué)生柳濟(jì)琛開(kāi)發(fā)了一款名為“光盤(pán)打卡”的微信小程序。學(xué)校的學(xué)生用戶可在就餐后打開(kāi)小程序，對(duì)著空盤(pán)拍照。人工智能識(shí)別出照片后，學(xué)生們就能獲得積分購(gòu)買(mǎi)禮品或者愛(ài)心餐，捐贈(zèng)給鄉(xiāng)村地區(qū)的孩子。

2020年11月，柳濟(jì)琛和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)以及其他組織發(fā)起了第三年的“光盤(pán)打卡”活動(dòng)。該活動(dòng)迅速傳到了全國(guó)1017所高校。

據(jù)《中國(guó)青年報(bào)》報(bào)道，為期一個(gè)月的打卡活動(dòng)吸引了近160萬(wàn)參與者，共減少食物浪費(fèi)862噸，減少碳排放3337噸。

柳濟(jì)琛開(kāi)發(fā)這款小程序的靈感源自在一家餐廳的就餐經(jīng)歷。2017年，他發(fā)現(xiàn)一家餐廳會(huì)給“光盤(pán)”的食客一張卡片，并在食客積累了一定數(shù)量的卡片后贈(zèng)送其小禮品。

柳濟(jì)琛認(rèn)為：“科技創(chuàng)新是減少食物浪費(fèi)的一個(gè)好辦法?！彼M建了一個(gè)20人的團(tuán)隊(duì)，于2017年底開(kāi)始了這一項(xiàng)目的研究。為解決人工智能識(shí)別“光盤(pán)”圖片的問(wèn)題，團(tuán)隊(duì)歷時(shí)半年在食堂和餐廳采集了10萬(wàn)多個(gè)樣本。2018年，這款小程序在10月16日世界糧食日當(dāng)天正式投入運(yùn)營(yíng)。年底，他們還發(fā)起了一項(xiàng)活動(dòng)。

柳濟(jì)琛稱：“在研發(fā)過(guò)程中存在許多未知。對(duì)于我們團(tuán)隊(duì)成員而言，最大的心理挑戰(zhàn)是我們是否有足夠的信心完成它。”據(jù)柳濟(jì)琛透露，他們不僅完成了目標(biāo)，如今小程序還擁有500多萬(wàn)注冊(cè)用戶。

因其富有創(chuàng)新、切實(shí)可行、關(guān)注社會(huì)問(wèn)題的行動(dòng)，2020年9月，柳濟(jì)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(lián)合國(guó)秘書(shū)長(zhǎng)青年特使辦公室的可持續(xù)發(fā)展目標(biāo)青年領(lǐng)袖。

柳濟(jì)琛說(shuō)：“希望我們的努力可以在年輕一代中掀起新的潮流，鼓勵(lì)他們珍惜糧食，養(yǎng)成節(jié)約的習(xí)慣?！?/p>

他補(bǔ)充道：“通過(guò)這個(gè)活動(dòng)，我們希望激勵(lì)每個(gè)人采取行動(dòng)，反對(duì)食物浪費(fèi)，并為解決全球糧食安全問(wèn)題貢獻(xiàn)中國(guó)智慧和方案?！?/p>

Word Study

innovation /'?n?'ve??n/ n. 創(chuàng)新;改革

We must promote originality， inspire creativity and encourage innovation.

thrift /θr?ft/ n. 節(jié)約;節(jié)儉

They were rightly praised for their thrift and enterprise.

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