Britain’s youngest mother gave birth at 13 without her family knowing, and, even more surprisingly, the baby’s father… see more

Meet Nadia Sparks, a 13-year-old student from Norwich, England, who took on the noble task of picking up trash on her way to school every day to help make the world a better place. Since she started her project, she has picked up over 1100 liters of garbage, much of which has been recycled, and she has inspired countless others to start doing the same.

Image credits: teamtrashgirl

Nadia is exactly the kind of person we need more of, someone who cares about her community and the Earth that we all share. However, bullies at her school saw her positive behavior as something to use against her, and started taunting her with the name ‘trash girl.’

Image credits: teamtrashgirl

Undeterred, Nadia turned the bullying on its head by embracing the term, which she said made her sound “like a superhero.” She continued with her cleaning crusade and started up the ‘Team Trash Girl‘ Facebook page, where she encourages others to post their own litter-picking stories.

I wanted to find a way to help everyone support one another, to help fix the planet’s problems before it becomes unfixable,” she writes. “So, please try to pick up 3 pieces of litter today. Show us what you have found. Let’s all support each other to make the world a better place.”

Image credits: teamtrashgirl

After her story first went viral in 2018, Nadia became an ambassador for the wildlife charity WWF and has won international recognition and awards. She was even immortalized in cartoon form, and, being a keen artist herself, is also publishing her own environment-themed cartoon in a local newspaper.

Image credits: creativenation

But her bullies didn’t let up. If anything, the attention that Nadia was getting only seemed to fuel their jealousy and bitterness. Nadia had cups of orange juice thrown at her, she was shown a knife and even punched, leading to police eventually getting involved and Nadia having to change schools.

Image credits: TeamTrashGirl/Facebook

Now at a new school, Reepham High, Nadia has a perfect teacher in Matt Willer, who she first met when they were both nominated for an eco hero award.

Mr Willer, who runs an allotment project, told the BBC: “I’d heard of the amazing work she was doing collecting rubbish and how, very sadly, she was being bullied because she was doing something different.”

“This hit a nerve with me and we discussed how Nadia might like to come and have a look at Reepham High.”