As the Mail’s month-long campaign to clean up the UK comes to an end, we salute some of the army of volunteers who joined in our litter-picking drive
- More than half a million joined Mail’s campaign to clean up UK’s public spaces
- Some of the leading lights have been given a special award by the Prime Minister
- Theresa May also praised campaign and urged public to help keep UK litter-free
Some of the leading lights in the war against litter have been honoured by the Prime Minister.
They have all made a major impact to help turn the tide on plastic and tidy up the country, both by drawing attention to cleaning up in imaginative ways and by clearing masses of litter up themselves.
And now their contributions have been recognised at the highest level with five receiving prestigious Points Of Light awards, which celebrate outstanding efforts from volunteers from Theresa May.
Five of our litter-picking heroes with their Points Of Light awards: (from left to right) Emily Stevenson, Nadia Sparkes, Rosanne Bostock, Dhruv Boruah, and Jason Alexander
CRISP PACKET CRUSADER
For more than a decade, Emily Stevenson, 21, has been taking part in beach cleans. But she came to public attention last year wearing her home-made dress made of crisp packets to her graduation in marine biology in Plymouth.
Her aim was to raise awareness of recycling issues, and it led to crisps firm Walkers committing to making all of its packets recyclable, compostable or biodegradable by 2025.
Miss Stevenson, of Trevone Bay, Cornwall, said: ‘You go to an open space. It’s littered. You litter pick, and it’s clean! Every piece of litter you pick up absolutely makes every difference.’
During the Great British Spring Clean, Miss Stevenson led 14 beach cleans in Cornwall.
BEATING THE BULLIES
Nadia Sparkes, 13, suffered bullying for her relentless litter picking while going to and from school. Each day she leaves an hour earlier so she can ‘clear her route’ – picking up rubbish on one side of the road on the way there, storing it in her bicycle basket, and clearing the other side when heading home.
She was called ‘Trash Girl’ by bullies, but took on the name and used it to inspire others – posting on social media to encourage clean-ups that have gained thousands of followers.
In a letter to Nadia, who is from Hellesdon, near Norwich, Mrs May said: ‘Through your Trash Girl campaign you are changing attitudes on littering and inspiring thousands of your fellow students to take action.
More than half a million volunteers joined the Mail’s month-long clean-up campaign
‘You are sending a positive message that we should all take responsibility for looking after our local environment, and should feel very proud of the difference this is making.’
Nadia’s mother Paula said: ‘We are really proud of Nadia. She has had an incredibly tough time since she’s been doing this, the bullying has been quite severe, but she has carried on doing it.’
Nadia said she was ‘amazed and grateful’ for the award, adding: ‘I feel very happy that what I’ve done has been recognised.’
A VERY GREEN GRAN
The 79-year-old grandmother-of-eight founded OxClean in 2007, which now co-ordinates more than 1,200 volunteers and 30 businesses across Oxford to tackle litter.
Rosanne Bostock had come across a similar initiative while travelling in Australia and was inspired to bring the concept back to her home city, gaining the backing of Oxford City Council. Since then, OxClean has led to a massive reduction in littering, with volunteers clearing 4.5 tons of litter in 2017 compared with ten tons when they started in 2007.
Mrs Bostock said: ‘Cans, plastics and fast-food packaging cause much of today’s litter. Without in-depth changes to packaging content and signage, the problems of litter will not go away.’
YACHT A HERO!
Competing in a yacht race from London to Rio de Janeiro inspired Dhruv Boruah, 36, to set up his campaign, The Thames Project.
The scale of plastic pollution in the water shocked him, so he built a specially adapted bike which floats. As his pedal-powered machine travels along, he fishes out rubbish which he puts in the back. He has carried out clean-ups on waterways across the UK, as well as the Netherlands and the US.
Dhruv Boruah on his specially adapted floating bike which he uses to clear rivers of rubbish
Mr Boruah, from London, said: ‘I am pleased, honoured and humbled to accept the Points Of Light award from Prime Minister Theresa May.
‘It will inspire me to do more and to inspire young people to take action, get their hands dirty, innovate and solve the crisis, since time is running out and we need all hands on deck.’
ARTIST AT WORK
Jason Alexander, has conducted a one man clean-up campaign around Suffolk.
The wildlife photographer, 47, from Ipswich, has been documenting his litter-picking exploits for around two years.
He believes he has picked up more than 3,000 wet wipes over the past couple of months and more than 100,000 cigarette butts – some of which he uses to create colourful sculptures of dragons to highlight his cause.
Mr Alexander now organises monthly litter-picks in Ipswich and on beaches and riverbanks around Suffolk.
He said: ‘I’m honoured to have received this award for something I love doing and feel so passionate about.
‘Individually we can make a ripple of change. Together we can make a wave.’
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