LAnimals are sometimes more knowledgeable about good manners than humans. In Södertälje, near Stockholm, garbage collectors and other public space maintenance workers are helped by sagacious crows. Trained by the start-up Corvid Cleaning, the wild birds pick up cigarette butts thrown across the city, relays The Guardian tuesday 1er February. According to the founder of the company, the corvids participate in the operation “on a voluntary basis”, lured by the taste rewards at stake. The feathered animal grabs the cigarette butt in its beak and takes it to a special Corvid Cleaning machine, where the waste is deposited. Once the task is accomplished, a mechanism engages and propels the ultimate gratification: food.
Used for sanitation, these crows from New Caledonia were chosen for their proven scientific intelligence, which makes them “easier to educate” according to the inventor of this amazing method. “There is less risk of them eating waste by mistake,” says Christian Günther-Hassen. The latter indicates that the crows could save at least 75% of the costs associated with the collection of cigarette butts in the urban space.
Citizenship Lessons from Master Raven
More than a billion cigarette butts are recovered every year in Sweden, reports the Keep Sweden Tidy foundation. “We would have to see if it could also work in other environments. We can teach crows to pick up cigarette butts, but we can’t teach people not to throw them on the ground. It’s an interesting observation”, laments Tomas Thernström, in charge of waste management at the municipality of Södertälje. Corvid Cleaning clarified that it ensures that the good health of the flying cleaners is not impacted by harmful residues.
