Sister act: Teens who picked up 69,000 bits of plastic
FOR many teenage girls, free time means the chance to watch online make-up tutorials or chat aimlessly to friends on social media.
Amy and Ella Meek, on the other hand, are on a mission to pick up litter.
The sisters have already collected more than 69,000 pieces of single-use plastic and now aim to make that 100,000.
‘That is the number of sea mammals killed each year from being trapped in plastic or eating it,’ said Amy, 16.
‘We take our gloves and litter pickers with us wherever we go at the weekends and fill our pockets with plastic if we’re on a bike ride.
‘Once you start picking it up, you start seeing it everywhere and then you end up feeling uncomfortable about driving or walking past it without doing something.’
Amy and 14-year-old Ella, from Nottingham, plan to join next month’s Great British School Clean. This is part of the Great British Spring Clean run by Keep Britain Tidy and backed by the Mail, which has long campaigned against plastic waste.
‘It can be quite scary to learn about the world’s environmental issues and the lack of action on the part of authorities but young people don’t have to sit back,’ said Amy. ‘If we don’t do something right now, by the time we are middle-aged the plastic problem will have spiralled out of control.’ The Meek sisters’ campaigning work goes way beyond litter picking. Four years ago, they set up Kids against Plastic, a registered charity which they call a ‘youth social action project’.
Their website is packed with free downloadable resources helping schools, cafes and councils to reduce their plastic consumption. As junior activists they get invited to speak at international conferences and make regular appearances at schools talking about plastic pollution and the virtues of litter picking.
Their activism dates back to their parents’ decision, when Amy was 11 and Ella nine, to give up their jobs as teachers.
The couple sold their house and embarked on a life-changing three- year trip around Europe, home- schooling the girls as they travelled. ‘When we were driving through France we were horrified to see so much plastic along the roadsides,’ said Amy. After the trip, the Meek family returned to normal life in the UK – but the girls’ passion for the environment continued. They’ve also written a book called beplastic-clever, due to be published by DK in May, explaining the importance of reducing single use plastic to children.
Ella said: ‘Wherever we are, if we see litter – particularly plastic litter – we will definitely pick it up.’