Teenager takes Northampton's litter problem into his own hands

A teenager is dedicating his spare time to clearing his neighbourhood of nappies, bottles and all kinds of "disgusting" rubbish.

Isaac, 14, is organising his own litter pick this weekend at the Racecourse - a popular park in Northampton.

He said he got the urge to tidy up the area when he was 10.

He even has his own branded "Isaac's Litterpick Group" hi-viz vest and some equipment provided by Northampton Town Council through its community fund.

Isaac told BBC Radio Northampton that, when he was younger, he noticed there was a lot of rubbish in the area and thought, "that's disgusting".

During one of his first outings, he found a "disgusting nappy" along with broken glass.

He goes litter-picking after school and in any spare time he has, and has now set up his own group.

"All of us will have a bag, so one [group of] people will have non-recyclables and one group will go in with a recyclable one. We're going to do it in different groups," said Isaac.

His father, George, is very proud of him.

"He's actually taken an interest in doing this, not every child his age would," said George.

"In fact, a lot of children his age would be doing the exact opposite - they'd be throwing litter around on the ground everywhere and anywhere, so it's good to think that Isaac likes to look after his environment."

He added that Isaac's tidiness does not stop once he gets home.

"He's very good at putting things away - putting the rubbish where it should go at home, but also outside. He loves collecting it and I quite like sorting it, if I'm honest.

"What I don't like to see is if you collect it and it just goes into landfill."

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