These Drones Are Helping to Clean up Our Planet (and It’s Working!)

A UK-based startup is using camera-fitted drones as a revolutionary way to map out pollution and plastic trails: the drones collect large amounts of data in record time, enabling scientists to discover the underlying problems in specific areas and help educate locals. 

The drones, sent out by startup Ellipsis Earth, use image recognition software to map out and identify the trash, a process that was previously done by foot. “Drones are a game changer for environmental monitoring. They allow us to survey an entire stretch of coastline … in a few minutes,” says Ellipsis Earth CEO and founder Ellie Mackay. 

Ellipsis Earth was officially founded in 2019 and has generated such shocking data that action has already been taken in some countries. Mackay says, for example, that an Ellipsis survey has pushed Galapagos authorities to a ban on single-use plastics. The startup also surveyed cigarette butt littering in Sorrento, Italy, leading to improved ashtray placements, as well as an education campaign that Ellipsis says resulted in a 70% reduction in such littering.