Litter on the small screen in Ireland

Viewers of the daily News2day TV programme from RTÉ have been introduced to the Bin It! roadshow after they featured a performance on the show.

Television cameras filmed the performance at Mount Anville school in Dublin for a story on the programme, which features major news stories of the day for children. Many First Year students were interviewed about what they’d learnt from the show, and one student wrote a report on the experience for the school’s website.

‘There were funny improvisations with scenes showing that people litter out of laziness and in attempts to be like their friends.’

For the performance team, Lorraine Stack as Taylor and Denis Haugh as Doc, this was just one of 59 stops at schools around Ireland. From 30 September to 15 November this year they delivered 70 shows to over 5,000 first year students, travelling nearly 6,000 kilometres around Ireland in the Bin It! van.

Bin It! is produced in collaboration with the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT), and aims to encourage children to think about the damage done from littering, particularly chewing gum, if not disposed of properly.

During the interactive performances’ students are asked for ideas to reduce littering. Most original idea of this tour was, ‘Create an app that gives you points every time you put litter in the bin. When you have a certain amount of points, you get a prize.’

Fine increases were also suggested – some as high as €10,000 per piece – and edible packaging for products.

When Taylor asked one student if they would still enjoy their bed as much if it was full of rubbish, he said it was like she was describing his brother’s room! (The brother was sitting behind him!)

2019 is the 14th year the Bin It! Roadshow has been touring schools across Ireland, and the 7th year of the current version of the campaign. This theatre-in-education campaign is welcomed by Irish secondary schools annually as it contributes to schools’ green activities and supports teaching students about their environment.