Ashton Heptonstall may be only 6, but he already has a passion for environmentalism that could rival David Attenborough or David Bellamy.
The young eco-warrior has been removing rubbish from beaches on the Otago Peninsula since he was 4, and, surprisingly, his love for the environment does not come from watching Attenborough or Bellamy on television.
"I have no idea who they are. I'll have to look them up,'' he said.
His inspiration came from watching a film at the Royal Albatross Centre which showed the impact rubbish was having on the local wildlife.
Now he is encouraging others to follow his lead.
His mother, Janet, said Ashton was upset at the amount of rubbish he found during a clean-up at Company Bay recently.
"He said, why don't people get it? What can I do to get people to look after the world?
"We had a chat about him doing his bit, and I asked if he had any other ideas.
"He felt people needed to be told,'' she said.
Ashton has created his own YouTube video, which went online this week, showing some of the rubbish he has picked up from the beach.
"We've found glass, bottles, straws, forks, umbrellas, pegs, plastic bags, cans and that sort of stuff - and it's not good,'' he said on the video.
"So please, can you keep on saving the world by doing this [cleaning up].''
His passion and enthusiasm for the environment is spreading, to the point his school, Macandrew Bay School, has been inspired to plan a beach clean-up within the next month.
Ashton is a member of the Keep Dunedin Beautiful organisation and he can be seen regularly picking up rubbish on the beaches at Macandrew Bay, Company Bay and Pilots Beach.
"I try to go out every week. It's fun for me.
"Sometimes we'll be driving along and I'll say to Mum: ‘can we stop and clean up this beach?'
"Mum helps. We carry a rubbish bag with us everywhere, just in case we see rubbish on the beach.
"It's important because it saves animals. A lot of the rubbish on beaches can hurt birds and fish.
"We found about 102 straws once. They can hurt turtles because they sniff them up their nose.''
