Virtual Bin It! roadshow gets under way across Cavan

A total of 64,092 students have participated in the Bin It! programme since 2006.

The annual nationwide Bin It! programme has launched its new virtual Bin It! Hit Record Show which is being rolled out to secondary schools across Cavan. It's in a bid to educate and raise awareness of issues surrounding litter and the impact it can have on communities.

Bin It! Hit Record replaces the annual Bin It! programme national roadshow, which has been postponed in 2021 to ensure adherence to Covid-19 guidelines.

The new virtual show and adaptable teaching resource is being launched to 11 secondary schools across Cavan. It will allow teachers facilitate lessons that focus on the science behind littering, the behaviour of littering, and what can be done to change people's attitudes towards litter.

Bin It! is entirely funded and supported by the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) and forms an integral part of the GLT gum litter education campaign which seeks to encourage correct gum disposal amongst the public.

Established in 2006, the GLT includes members of the chewing gum industry, represented by Mars Ireland, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Food Drink Ireland, local authority representatives and civic society.

Bin It! Hit Record will provide teachers with information on how to deliver the lesson programmes and how to adapt the content to suit their needs and effectively engage students.

Central to the free teaching resource is a series of short videos which will follow main characters Doc and Taylor from the roadshow who will look at four key areas of littering. Students will also have the opportunity to conduct practical experiments from the roadshow and experience what it is like to be a key decision maker when it comes to managing litter.

The Bin It! campaign has toured across the country since 2006, visiting 580 schools and engaging 64,092 students through actor-led workshops that educated and encouraged students around correct gum disposal. Last year, the campaign was postponed due to Covid-19.

Speaking about the rollout of this important element of the GLT campaign, Chairman of the GLT, Paul Kelly said; “Like many other environmental initiatives, Bin It! has had to be creative in how it continues to educate students around the topic of litter. As younger generations are more aware about the global environmental challenges that we are facing, and are eager to learn and enact positive change, it is important that the Bin IT! education programme continues to evolve in order to captivate and educate future decision makers.”

The GLT education campaign also includes outdoor poster, TV and online advertising which ran from June until August this year and an accompanying website www.gumlittertaskforce.ie. Since the campaign began back in 2007, the proportion of gum as a percentage of litter has decreased by 64% as more and more people regard chewing gum as litter.