A young Irish climate activist looks set to be Ireland’s Greta Thunberg.
Flossie Donnelly will feature in RTEjr’s My Story: The Beach Cleaner, which will see her travel to one of the world’s dirtiest rivers to learn more about solving the plastic problem in our oceans.
The 12-year-old, who has just started secondary school, has had an interest in global warming since she was seven.
She told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “My family and I were in Thailand on holidays and one day my mum and dad had gone hiking and they had spotted rubbish floating in the sea next to the marine life.
“They told me about it and that’s the moment I asked my mum, ‘Could we save the planet?’ Two years later I had started a climate change group.”
On her trip to Indonesia’s dirtiest river, The Citarum, Flossie says she had expected worse, adding: “The river was dirty but not as polluted as I had thought.
“The plastic situation wasn’t good but one main difference I noticed was that they keep their fruit in bamboo baskets whereas in Ireland we keep it in plastic – it’s crazy to think a Third World country is ahead of us when it comes to fruit packaging.”
With a passion for Irish beaches, Flossie believes people need to clean up after themselves and not leave their rubbish behind.
She added: “People need to take responsibility, if they are going to bring it to the beach, then take it home.
“I am obsessed with bringing waste home.
“Even if it’s not yours, you should always pick it up as it is our sea. Some areas are filthy and infested.”
The Dun Laoghaire girl isn’t the only member of the Donnelly clan who has made changes to become eco-friendly, her whole family have taken certain measures to make their home free from plastic.
Flossie said: “We banned cling film in the house a couple of years ago.
“We all have heat cups or reusable water bottles. We don’t buy plastic bottles in the house.
“My parents have a hybrid car and I brush my teeth with a bamboo toothbrush. I strike every Friday either outside my school or the Dail. It’s not always possible to get to Leinster House, so I do it outside the school if I have to.”
