HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. — A Hernando County 16-year-old resident is putting a lid on it - trash that is, and she’s encouraging everyone to do the right thing and put their trash in the trash cans and not on the ground.

On most days, you’ll find Emma Bolton on stage showing off her talent, but on other days, the 16-year-old trades in her dance shoes for a garbage picker.

“A few years ago when I was 10,” Bolton said, “I read A Long Walk to Water and I learned about people not having cleaning water to drink. and for me as a 10-year-old, that was crazy.”

That’s when her philanthropy work started. Learning about the environment and how trash affects the wildlife led her to her latest project.

Bolton, who naturally loves being outdoors, said, “I would go out and I would see all the trash and, you know, I’d have my grabber and gloves and I just thought, 'Well most of the trash is just right next to the can because either the wind or the animals take it out.'" So I was like 'What if we just Put A Lid On It and then we’ll help that.'”

Her immediate goal is to put a lid on every public trash can in Hernando County.

Learning about the environment and how trash affects the wildlife led Emma Bolton to her latest project. (Katya Guillaume/Spectrum Bay News 9)

In her pilot program that she started just two weeks ago, she’s been able to put four lids at Linden Perdersen Park.

“I pick up trash here so it was an easy way to be like, 'OK this is a good area to Put A Lid On It.'"

The lids are provided from the county and through awareness and donations, she makes signs that county officials assist her in putting up.

She said this is something we can all do, and it’s as easy as “putting a lid on it.”

“I feel like this is just a very simple way that we can help impact the environment,” she said.

To support Emma and all her efforts, you can visit her page Emma’s Seeds Of Kindness.