One in seven people continue to drop their gum on the ground, according to new findings from the Gum Litter Taskforce, the national awareness campaign which aims to make gum litter an issue of the past.

This accounts for 19 per cent of men and nine per cent of women, showing a higher tendency in men to not properly dispose of their gum.

In an effort to reduce those figures, the Gum Litter Taskforce took to the streets of Athenry as a part of its Summer Roadshow at the weekend.

The interactive roadshow works with local authorities and communities across the country to carry out fun and engaging education and awareness initiatives that demonstrate the proper means of gum disposal and raise awareness of the environmental and fiscal impacts of gum litter.

Now in its seventeenth year, the campaign is a collaboration between Food Drink Ireland, the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, the chewing gum industry, and local authorities.

The GLT research also found that the biggest deterrent of gum litter is peer pressure, but one in four say they have changed their behaviour as a result of the educational messaging from the Bin-it campaign.

The findings highlight the continued impact of the GLT, a joint initiative of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, Food Drink Ireland, and the chewing gum industry, which has played a key role in promoting proper gum litter disposal, since its launch in 2007.

The GLT campaign travels across the country, working with local authorities to host its Summer Roadshow, which promotes responsible gum disposal by highlighting the environmental impacts of gum and general litter. This is supplemented by the ‘Bin It!’ school roadshow and a social media campaign to target 16–24-year-olds.

A further positive impact of the campaign is evident from the 16% of young people who reported having stopped the habit of ‘dropping or spitting’ gum recently post campaign.

This year’s campaign will see representatives from the Gum Litter Taskforce working with local authorities and communities to carry out education and awareness initiatives that demonstrate the proper means of gum disposal and raise awareness of the environmental and fiscal impacts of improper disposal.

In September, the Gum Litter Taskforce’s Bin It! education programme will travel across the country and deliver 60 performances a year to primary and secondary schools nationwide, with the ambition to visit 180 schools by 2025.

This is in addition to useful lesson plan material that has been made available to almost 730 schools across Ireland.

Pictured during the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) Summer Roadshow in Athenry (left to right) Martin Cummins (Community Warden), Uinsinn Finn (Deputy Chief Executive) Mark Molloy (Assistant EAO) and Tomás Clancy, Laura Mullins, Liam Brien, Thomas O’Sullivan, David Kelly (Community Wardens) of Galway County Council; Ella Seery, Gum litter Taskforce; Chris Harrington (Senior Community Warden) and Maria Flynn (Administrative Officer) of Galway County Council; and David Hopkins of Gum Litter Taskforce.