Over the past several weeks, we learned that Amazon has apparently been stealthily building a home services robot, tentatively called Vesta. Here's what we know about Vesta, and how this ties into our goal of getting Google to activate trash/hazard reporting via the easiest data input streams technologically possible. Most of this is reported directly by Bloomberg (link below): -Vesta has been in development for the past two years; -Vesta is being designed in the same Lab126, which developed Echo & flagship Fire devices; -Vesta will be in beta-release by end of 2018; -Vesta prototypes have advanced cameras and computer vision software; -Vesta can navigate through homes like a self-driving car; -Vesta will undoubtedly leverage Alexa and feature natural voice interaction. This is square proof that the software & hardware for dealing with the types of indoor & outdoor environmental hazards we've described is fully mature. We have been closely following leading robotics & robovac research teams for the past number of years, and we all know of different prototype and research models that have automated cleaning capability. But the news of Amazon Vesta confirms that we are finally at the point of alignment for software & hardware solutions to our trash problems (on macro- and micro-scales). Bottom line: Vesta/Alexa will soon be able to take cleaning commands AND to dispatch these same commands to a robot whose ability to effectively respond will improve with each subsequent product cycle. Score. Done right, it won't be long before Vesta is in the front lawn, picking up dog poop & litter. It won't be long before Vesta is on hiking trails, going about autonomously, executing a cleaning route. Not long at all before users will be able to send real-time trash/hazard reports that can channel one or many Vesta robots to take care of the problem, or assist humans in doing so. Done right, a win win in terms of better technology for making our environments (indoor & out) cleaner & safer. So, if Amazon "beat" Google to the punch, why prod Google? The answer goes back to the fact that Google has an active global mobile user base of more than 2 billion people, whereas Amazon's user base is far smaller. Google users (Android & other platforms) will interact with their Google assistants more and more. So the number of people who will be demanding #CleanApp capability will keep rising quicker & quicker. Because we all know that Google users will increasingly demand CleanApp-type services, Google should accelerate its development of these capabilities. If Google still won't provide it, users may well switch to ... Amazon, or yet another platform. For us as citizens, this type of competition between BigTech giants is more than welcome because it usually means higher quality services & far greater economic utility. RecyclingBots, DroneVacs, autonomous industrial-scale scrubbers cleaning city sidewalks & parking lots, cleaner forests, rivers, and seas -- cleaner homes, parks & playgrounds -- that's what this petition is enabling & trying to accelerate. Thank you to everyone who has supported us thus far! Our petition is spreading slowly but consistently. We are raising awareness about this petition at every opportunity, and are very active on Twitter (@CleanApp). We welcome feedback/critiques/suggestions. We know that people have lots of different motivations for launching/supporting petitions. For us, the key is getting the result. When Google offers this capability, we'll be using it in different ways in different priority areas, and that's cool. Some want CleanApp because they want visitors to a national park be able to report every cigarette butt and plastic bottle they stumble upon. Others may want CleanApp because they're tired of spot cleaning the kitchen floor every night. Still others may want CleanApp because of both of these reasons, or others still. That's fine. We're a nonprofit that's going to be in this fight until the end. We're proud of each of the 127 people who has signaled their support so far. And that's why we're excited to ask you, yet again, to please post this update to your social networks, to explain to people why this technology is so necessary, and will be so darn ... useful ... and fun. Thank you, CleanApp Foundation