Bin It! Education Campaign kicks off on the Southside

THE 13th annual nationwide Bin It! Education Campaign kicked off last week with visits to schools across Dublin including Ballinteer Community School and Stepaside Educate Together.

Part of the Gum Litter Taskforce campaign is to encourage correct gum disposal.

Since the campaign began back in 2006, 57,778 students have taken part in the educational school tour.

Bin It! features an actor-led workshop which visits first and second-year students in secondary schools across participating local authority areas. The workshop incorporates a theatre-in-education session which encourages students to dispose of gum litter, and litter more generally, in a responsible manner.

Bin It! forms an integral component part of the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) gum litter education campaign.

Chairman Paul Kelly said: “When the GLT campaign first began, gum litter accounted for 26 per cent of all recorded litter.

“The most recent report of the National Litter Monitoring Pollution System has shown that it now accounts for just 7.8 per cent of all litter.

“This points to the fact that the most effective way to reduce gum litter is to tackle it in the most sustainable way, by educating people.”