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20 Oct 2025

Litter disposal roadshow visits Kilkenny schools

Several Kilkenny schools received a performance about disposing of gum and other litter properly

Litter disposal roadshow visits Kilkenny schools

The Bin It! Roadshow at Kilkenny City Vocational School

The Gum Litter Taskforce Bin It! Roadshow hit the road last week and visited Kilkenny to continue to bring the fun and educational tour to schools across the county.

Students from Kilkenny City Vocational School, Bennetsbridge NS, CBS Primary School, St Aidan’s NS and Bunscoil McAuley Rice were treated to a fun, actor-led performance that brings the anti-litter message to life through humour, storytelling and interactive learning.

As part of the Gum Litter Taskforce’s (GLT) national education campaign, the school roadshow is designed to help young people understand the simple difference they can make by disposing gum and other litter responsibly and help them learn more about what they can do to help for their local environment.

The latest National Litter Pollution Monitoring System (NLPMS) 2024 Report shows that chewing gum now makes up just 7.3% of all litter nationally, down from 8.6% in 2023, marking the lowest level in over ten years.

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While overall gum litter continues to decline, litter linked to schools and schoolchildren still accounts for around 4% of all cases nationwide, underlining the importance of early education and awareness programmes like Bin It!

Research has shown that lifestyle patterns and habit formation begin at an early age, with schoolchildren thought to be most receptive to social influence from ages 11 to 14 years of age, meaning the roadshow plays a key role in developing proper litter disposal habits.

Over the next seven weeks, the Gum Litter Taskforce’s Bin It! programme will visit 70 schools across 24 counties, performing for students across the country.

For schools not registered for the roadshow, the Gum Litter Taskforce will also continue to provide useful lesson plan material on its website, with materials made available to almost 730 schools across Ireland to date.

Avril Donlon, Chair of the Gum Litter Taskforce said: “Each year the enthusiasm we see from students is amazing, and it’s clear that these performances really do make a difference to students’ attitude towards litter.”

“Seeing the rate of gum litter fall again this year shows the impact of the GLT campaign, and the importance of that education and awareness piece. As we kick off another year of the roadshow, we’re excited to keep building on that success”.

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