Litter picker, 6, on mission to clean up community

Marnie Rae was inspired to take action after seeing the amount of litter on the streets

A six year-old girl on a mission to clean up her community has been nominated for a BBC Make a Difference Award.

Marnie Rae, from Ripon, began picking up litter on her way to school after noticing the amount of rubbish being discarded in her local area.

She told BBC Radio York: "The road was all dirty and there was rubbish on the road, so I thought I want to tidy this up."

Rather than recycling or throwing away everything she collects, Marnie Rae enjoys using some items for her own craft projects, making things like bird feeders and jewellery boxes.

The six year old likes to help her mum with the household recycling

"We need to look after our animals and look after our world," the youngster said.

"I pick up things like bags, bottles and cartons and I think people should put these things in the bin."

She has started sharing her anti-littering message with others, creating posters at school encouraging people to put things in the bin.

"What I want to say to people who drop litter is 'please put it in the bin don't just put it on the floor'," she said.

She has made lots of items from the recycled rubbish, including an octopus called Jerry, made out of a discarded paper cup and a bird feeder from a plastic pop bottle.

"I love crafting and was given a special certificate at school for making puppets out of cardboard in my design and technology class," she said.

Marnie Rae is a finalist in the green award category of BBC Radio York's Make a Difference Awards.

A BBC spokesperson said: "The Green Award is awarded to an individual or group of people who help to make where we live more environmentally friendly and better for nature."

The winners will be announced at an event at York Racecourse on 13 September