Portsmouth animal lover, 11, clears 3 bags of litter from Baffins Pond and urges others to clean up their area
ARMED with a litter picker, an environmentally-conscious schoolgirl has cleaned up a beauty spot hoping to inspire others to follow suit.
A family trip to Baffins Pond spurred on 11-year-old Abigail Buckland to spend an hour clearing up litter discarded by wetlands visitors.
Animal lover Abigail, from North End, felt sad when she saw the litter surrounding the area, and wanted to clear it up to save the wildlife living there.
Mum Hayley ordered a litter picker so Abigail could collect the discarded items safely, and a return trip saw Abigail collect three big bags of rubbish to dispose of.
The Trafalgar School pupil said: ‘I saw lots of rubbish and plastic when I visited and I was afraid it would hurt the animals so I decided I wanted to clear it.
‘When I looked at how much I had cleared I felt happy that my hard work had made such a difference.’
Among the usual plastic and crisp packets, Abigail made the strange find of a Halloween mask which had obviously been there for a while.
She recycled all the glass, cans and plastic bottles and disposed of the rest safely, and some strangers even congratulated her while she was clearing up the litter.
Proud mum Hayley said: ‘She loves animals so much, she wants to be a vet when she’s older so it didn’t surprise me that she wanted to do something about it.
‘I love that she came up with the idea, it’s really grown up of her to say she wanted to do something about it. It makes me feel really proud.
‘She’s so kind and caring, she’s got such a lovely nature to her. She cares about anything and anyone.’
The young environmentalist is hoping to inspire others to do their bit and clear up litter in their own area, with her ultimate goal to be stopping people from littering in the first place.
Abigail said: ‘If everyone did a little clean each in their local areas we could clear up lots more and save lots more animals. If people see others caring it might stop them littering.
‘I have planned to go back to Baffins Pond very soon to clean up more with my best friend Emily.’