One of the award winners in the Ocean Affairs Council’s Ocean Challenge this year was a project to set up smart upcycling machines along the coastlines of Taiwan to encourage plastic recycling and beach cleanup.
The proposal, titled “Clean Beach, Clean Ocean,” was by two Taiwanese studying in Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Teaming up as “Cornell Currents for Change,” Gina Chen (陳紀嘉) and Nicole Lee (李潔盈) focused on addressing marine debris and promoting sustainable tourism.
Chen said she realized how plastic waste could harm ecosystems during a beach cleanup around Sizihwan (西子灣) in Kaohsiung, her hometown.
Photo courtesy of the Ocean Affairs Council
It dawned on her that beaches could be the starting point of marine conservation, where she could apply her environmental engineering student knowledge, Chen said.
Lee said she noticed that most people are not interested in helping with beach cleanups, adding that she sought to leverage her experience in plastic upcycling to create a mechanism that encourages sustained commitment to beach cleanup.
Their proposed solution combined an interactive mobile app with smart vending machines, allowing people to locate beaches in need of cleanups via the app and collect plastic waste in exchange for points that could be redeemed for upcycled items from vending machines.
The machines could power wash and dry deposited plastics, gather the plastics into a compartment, melt them, and compress and mold them into new products. That upcycling process would be zero waste and low-cost, without using newly manufactured goods as rewards like other recycling initiatives’ reward systems.
People could use the app to track their personal cleanup progress and connect to machines to view an upcycled item’s point value. They could also use it to find recommended waterfront attractions and nearby restaurants in favor of sustainable tourism.
The duo spent three months identifying the issue, designing the app and machine, and enhancing the proposal’s feasibility and relevance to local communities, with each contributing their unique strengths.
“I focused on the technical aspects, including app design, UI/UX [user interface/user experience] and video editing, while Nicole concentrated on creativity and user engagement,” Chen said.
Sometimes, disagreements arose, as Chen sought to ensure technical feasibility while Lee cared more about user experience.
“Whenever our perspectives diverged, we returned to our shared goal: creating a solution that is both impactful and scalable,” Lee said.
Asked about the greatest highlight of their proposal, both said that the proposal would not only foster long-term behavioral change that would benefit the environment, but would also encourage community engagement and sustainable economic development.
“Our design emphasizes upcycling, rather than simple recycling,” Chen said.
“Current machines are very transactional — you drop a bottle and receive points,” Lee said, adding that their proposed system emphasizes upcycling while linking the machine to beach cleanup and sustainable tourism.
“It’s not just recycling; it’s creating a lifestyle loop,” she said.
Both said that they felt honored to receive a Silver Award in the youth category of the competition and that their biggest takeaway was their enhanced capability of turning knowledge into practical solutions.
“This experience showed me that true learning comes from practice,” Chen said. “Turning ideas into action bridges the gap between ideas and reality, transforming dreams into tangible impact.”
“Combining different perspectives and expertise allowed us to create something far stronger than what either of us could have done alone,” Lee said.
The pair also highly recommended the Ocean Challenge to other students.
“Start with a problem you truly care about, and the solution will grow naturally from that passion,” Lee said. “This experience motivated me to continue pursuing my passion for sustainability and to work toward a cleaner, more sustainable future for all.”
“It was incredibly inspiring to see so many creative projects from young people across Taiwan and beyond, each addressing ocean-related challenges in their own unique way,” Chen said, adding that she hoped their proposal to motivate more young people like them.
The Ocean Challenge began in 2019, and this year, it attracted 162 youth and teenage participants from 14 countries across North America, Asia, Europe and Africa, the council said.
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