Clearing your plate with tech

Multiple actions have been taken to fight food waste, but one young man is making a big difference with technology.
人们采取了诸多行动以杜绝食物浪费，但一位年轻人正在用科技极大地改变着我们的生活。

Liu Jichen, 23, 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 impoverished rural areas.
23岁的清华学生柳济琛开发了一款名为“光盘打卡”的微信小程序。用户可在就餐后打开小程序，对着空盘拍照。人工智能识别出照片后，学生们就能获得积分购买礼品或者爱心餐，捐赠给贫困乡村地区的孩子。

Liu and his team, together with other organizations, launched the “Clear Your Plate” campaign in November for the third year. It has swept over 1,017 universities across the country.
今年11月，柳济琛和团队以及其他组织发起第三年的“光盘打卡”行动。该行动覆盖了全国1017所高校。

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.
据中国青年报报道，为期一个月的打卡活动吸引了近160万参与者，共减少食物浪费862吨，减少碳排放3337吨。

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.
柳济琛开发这款小程序的灵感源自在一家餐厅的就餐经历。2017年，他发现一家餐厅会给“光盘”的食客一张卡片，食客积累了一定数量的卡片后便可获得小礼品。

“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.
柳济琛认为，“科技创新是减少食物浪费的一个好办法”。他组建了一个20人的团队，于2017年底开始了这一项目。为解决人工智能识别“光盘”图片的问题，团队历时半年在食堂、餐厅采集了10万个样本。2018年，这款小程序在10月16日世界粮食日当天正式投入运营。随后，他们当年还发起了一项活动。

“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.
柳济琛称，“在研发过程中存在许多未知。对于我们团队成员而言，最大的心理挑战是我们是否足够有信心完成它。”据柳济琛透露，他们不仅完成了目标，如今小程序还拥有500多万注册用户。

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.
因其富有创新、切实可行、关注社会问题的行动，今年9月，柳济琛以及其他16人从7600多名各国候选人中脱颖而出，入选2020年联合国秘书长青年特使办公室的可持续发展目标青年领袖。

“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.
“希望我们的努力可以在年轻一代中掀起新趋势，鼓励他们珍惜粮食，养成节约习惯，”柳济琛说。

“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.
“通过这个活动，我们希望激励每个人采取行动，反对食物浪费，并为解决全球粮食安全问题提出中国智慧和方案，”他补充道。

以上文章内容选自《21世纪学生英文报高中版》，详情请见《21世纪学生英文报高中版》高三735期