Gum Litter Taskforce Bin It! Roadshow travels to Athlone school

The Gum Litter Taskforce recently brought its hugely successful Bin It! Roadshow to Westmeath in an effort to drive behavioural change around attitudes to litter from a young age.

Students from Coosan National School took part in an hour-long workshop, learning more about correct litter disposal and the important role they can play in caring for the environment.

The Bin It! Roadshow is an integral part of the Gum Litter Taskforce’s (GLT) gum litter education campaign, promoting the responsible disposal of gum litter to schoolchildren through fun actor-led workshops and interactive learning materials.

The recent renewal of the GLT education campaign for a fifth cycle includes the ambitious target of delivering the Bin It! Roadshow's interactive workshop to 180 schools by 2025. The campaign will also continue to provide useful lesson plan material on its website, materials have already been made available to almost 730 schools across Ireland to date.

Speaking about the rollout of this important element of the GLT campaign, Chairman of the GLT, Paul Kelly said:

“The Bin It! Roadshow is a crucial element of the Gum Litter Taskforce education campaign as it engages younger audiences, who are instrumental in driving behavioural changes and attitude shifts in society. This younger generation are more aware and engaged with the global environmental challenges that we face than any generation before them. Their eagerness to learn and enact positive change makes them a critical group for the campaign to engage with.”

“While the virtual campaign was a huge success last year, we are very enthused about the prospect of returning to in-person workshops and engaging face-to-face with young people in schools across the country. It’s an element of the campaign that we have really missed over the past two years.”

The Bin It! Roadshow is a completely free workshop available to primary and secondary schools across Ireland this year, funded by Mars Wrigley Ireland as part of the annual GLT education campaign.

Corporate Affairs Manager, Mars Wrigley Ireland, Nicola Forde said:

“We’re proud to support the Bin It! campaign as part of the GLT, as we recognise the huge impact that education has in changing future behaviour. We look forward to seeing it rolling out in schools across Ireland over the coming months.”

The GLT education campaign also includes a roadshow that travels throughout the country in the summer months promoting responsible gum behaviours with the help of local authorities, an outdoor poster, TV and online advertising campaign, as well as an accompanying website gumlittertaskforce.ie