The Little Collector who inspires 3,000 followers to clean up
EIGHT-yEar- old Elizabeth Gadsdon was so disturbed by the amount of litter near her Birkenhead home that she took matters into her own hands.
She was spurred into action after watching a car passenger throw rubbish into the road.
Her fire station manager father Steve, 49, said the rest was history.
‘She couldn’t get her head around it,’ he explained. ‘But she doesn’t point the finger or tell people off. It’s all about being positive and caring. That’s why anything that raises more awareness in a positive way like the Great British Spring Clean is good.
‘ It’s not just about litter, it’s about damaging the planet and if we don’t start now we’ll push past the point of no return. The more it’s ingrained in our social psyche the more it will preserve our future. That’s how Elizabeth does it. If people see her caring, they will feel more inclined to do something about how they feel anyway.’
Elizabeth focused her first litterpick of the Great British Spring Clean campaign on a grass embankment running by a busy road in Wallasey, near Birkenhead, on Sunday. She posed proudly alongside a ‘before’ and ‘after’ snap showing three large bags of rubbish collected from a small copse blighted by plastic sheeting and litter.
The youngster has received numerous plaudits for her environmental efforts, including awards from Keep Britain Tidy and even the Prime Minister – but she is more interested in filling rubbish bags than trophy cabinets.
Mr Gadsdon continued: ‘I would say she’s humble because I’m her dad, but everything comes from her. Her mum said to her the other week she didn’t have to pick up litter if she didn’t want to, if she felt pressured. She looked at us incredulously and said, “Why on Earth would I want to stop caring about
‘Why would I stop caring for planet?’
the planet?”’ almost 3,000 people follow Elizabeth’s Facebook page, The little Collector, where Mr Gadsdon and Elizabeth’s mum Faith regularly post footage of her litter picks with her faithful labrador Banjo.
Two Christmases ago, Elizabeth gave five local cafes a set of paper straws and asked them to consider using them to replace plastic.
When four agreed, she did the same thing on Valentine’s day, then Easter and now it is something of a tradition for special occasions to try to spread the message across her area. and while her influence on her community is palpable, it has also inspired her parents to change. ‘ She sparked the interest in us,’ said Mr Gadsdon. ‘you can’t live with her and it not rub off.
‘We tried Plastic Free July and since then we go out of our way to reduce single-use plastic. I think we’ve reduced our landfill waste by three-quarters. It’s a round-robin if you like, it gets others on board.’
despite earning her environmental stripes early, Elizabeth wants to be a heart or brain surgeon after seeing her grandfather become ill. But her father says that her ecofriendly hobby will stay with her for life, explaining: ‘ She told us that whatever she ends up doing, she will always pick up litter.’