Irish Anti-Litter Campaign Targets School

Irish Anti-Litter Campaign Targets Schools

Ireland’s annual Bin It! campaign is targeting schools to educate youngsters about litter and how to dispose of it properly.

First and second year pupils from secondary schools in Thurles and Killenaule took part in the Bin It! workshop that visited their schools. The workshop is led by actors who use theatre to encourage pupils to dispose of chewing gum and other litter properly.

Bin It! is an important part of the Gum Litter Taskforce’s (GLT) gum litter education campaign which educates people on how to dispose of gum properly. The campaign has been running since 2006, and it has the support of Mars/Wrigley Ireland, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Food Drink Ireland, and local authority representatives.

The Bin it! campaign has been visiting schools across Ireland for 12 years, and it’s visited 463 schools visited and engaged with over 51,000 pupils.

The impact on gum litter

The chairman of the Gum Litter Taskforce said that the latest figures on chewing gum litter show that gum now makes up 8% of litter, down from 15% in 2016. He said that this indicates that people are taking their message on board, and they believe that engaging with young people is key.

The school workshops have an accompanying website for teachers where there are games, quizzes, lesson plans, teachers’ notes, posters and activity cards to make it easy to include litter prevention and disposal in the curriculum.

The Gum Litter Taskforce education campaign includes outdoor posters, a TV and online advertising campaign which ran from May until August and a website, which you can find at  www.gumlittertaskforce.ie.

Why teach young people about litter?

As well as learning academic and life skills at school, children need to learn about the world around them and about what affects their society, and the planet.

Young people who are taught about the impact of litter are more likely to grow up with a more responsible attitude towards litter and the environment as a whole when they get older.

Campaigns like Bin It! aim to create a generation who believe that litter is not acceptable in any form, and that will set an example for future generations.