Nadia Sparkes, aka 'Trash Girl', recognised by PM

Awarded the 1158th Points of Light

03/04/19

Thirteen year old Nadia Sparkes, a leading young anti-litter campaigner from Norwich and also known as ‘Trash Girl’, is today being awarded by the Prime Minister for her drive to encourage schoolchildren to keep their local environment clean. She is the 1158th Points of Light award recipient.

Shocked by the waste she would see on her cycle to school, Nadia began regularly picking up items and disposing of them on her return home, collecting over 3,000 litres of litter.

Called ‘Trash Girl’ by bullies at her school, Nadia was determined to overcome the name-calling by using it as part of a positive campaign to encourage her peers to take action on litter through an online community group. Her campaign has been picked up by Keep Britain Tidy along with other charities, including Greenpeace and WWF, and has since gone viral, with her online following growing to over 4,000 people.

Nadia has also been depicted by local artists as a cartoon superhero character, which is being shared in schools to educate students on litter prevention.

Nadia’s award coincides with our Great British Spring Clean, the country’s largest mass-action environmental campaign attracting over 528,000 volunteer #LitterHeroes.

In a personal letter to Nadia, Prime Minister Theresa May said:

“Through your ‘Trash Girl’ campaign you are changing attitudes on littering and inspiring thousands of your fellow students to take action. 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 said:

“I am so amazed and grateful to be given such an honour and I just hope that this helps to highlight how important it is for all of us to work together to make our world a better place. Every small action that each of us makes counts, whether good or bad. Please make a pledge to pick up 3 pieces of litter every day.”

Congratulations Nadia and thank you for all of your hard work to help stop littering.

Get involved in #GBSpringClean