An 8-year-old girl from Stevenage has been busy leading a local conservationism group, which collectively cleaned up more than 14 bags of litter from the town last month.
With the help of her mum, 8–year–old Molly set up Earth Guardians Stevenage UK – part of a national youth–based environmental activism group who work on local projects to improve the environment, people and animals.
Molly, a self–professed nature lover, decided she wanted to do a weekly litter pick on Wednesdays after she collected rubbish on Earth Day in April, and the first weekly earth clean up began on Wednesday, May 6.
She first got into conservationism after being taught about how harmful our rubbish is for the ocean – leading Molly to want to bring lasting environmental change to her local area.
So, after mum found and researched the global Earth Guardians group, Molly decided to apply for her own and this led to her becoming crew leader for Earth Guardians Stevenage UK.
Last month, the group – which has a number of other young members and around 10 weekly volunteers – managed to clean up 14 bags worth of rubbish from the streets of Stevenage.
Each member of Earth Guardians Stevenage does an individual litter pick on Wednesdays, due to lockdown and social distancing measures, but the amount they collect is added together and calculated as a communal effort.
Molly says her mother, Rhiannon, is her “inspiration as she is so passionate about the nature and Earth”.
In turn, Rhiannon says she is “unbelievably proud” of her daughter and says nature and animals are pretty much “all she ever talks about”.
Rhiannon added: “She’s so small and young, but she cares so much and is proactive in how she gets out there and does something to help.
“She’s wise beyond her years and really inspirational.
“I feel so grateful that I get to be her Mama and support her in making her dreams a reality.
“But, we don’t want to forget the amazing work done by all the others who have joined in our weekly clean ups, a big thank you to them!”
For more information on the weekly litter picks and to register your interest in joining, search Earth Guardians Stevenage UK on Facebook.
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