Four-year-old Mansfield girl on eco-mission to tackle littering

Mini-eco warrior Olivia Clare was walking home from school with her mum Laura Fedulow, when she noticed how much rubbish was strewn on the the ground.

It sparked a conversation about protecting the environment and little Olivia asked her mum if she would buy her a litter picker, so she could collect the rubbish on her walks to and from school.

Since then, Olivia, a pupil at High Oakham Primary School, has been on a mission to clean up the streets.

Laura, aged 32, who is about to start a new job as a children’s healthcare assistant, said: “Olivia said to me ‘mummy there’s so much rubbish, it’s not good for the animals’.

"We chatted about it all the way home, about how rubbish was hurting the world.

“Olivia has a few books about litter and plastic harming our environment and she wanted to do something to help.”

Making a difference

She said they bought Olivia a litter picker, which she used on her walk home from school.

Laura said: “She was so excited to be making the area clean again.

"She told me ‘people should hold their rubbish until they see a bin or get home, the street isn’t a bin’ and said she was ‘so happy to be helping the animals’.

“She’s so proud of collecting rubbish and I was unbelievably proud of her, her being just four, and noticing things like this.

“She made such grown-up, caring, educated comments about the pollution in our area.

“I hope she can help raise awareness of littering and,hopefully, make people think a little more about our environment.

“We could all learn so much from listening to our children, hearing their innocent voices, their naturally caring nature.

“Adults should know better about the way we look after our planet and take responsibility for where our rubbish goes.”

Now Ralphy, Olivia’s three-year-old brother is wanting to get in on the action.

Laura said: “We are having to go out and get him his own picker now.”

As a result of Olivia’s good deeds, she has now been made an ‘eco ambassador’ at her school.

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