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Clare communities tackle gum litter

26 June 2019

A countywide campaign to reduce littered gum in communities across Clare has been launched.

Clare County Council this week joined the students of Corofin National School and members of Corofin Tidy Towns for the launch of the Gum Litter Taskforce’s gum litter education campaign.

Research commissioned by the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) and conducted by Kantar Millward Brown during the 2018 campaign has highlighted the campaign’s positive effect on people’s behaviour towards gum disposal. The latest results show that 88% of people said that they always dispose of their gum correctly, up from 54% when the campaign first began.

Speaking at the launch, Conor Leyden, Environmental Community Warden, Clare County Council, said “The Gum Litter Taskforce is a fantastic initiative for communities to get involved in. Each year, we see communities coming together with the common aim of reducing the level of littered gum within their respective localities. The campaign has achieved positive results to date in this regard, and I hope this year’s campaign will continue to further build on those results”.

Mr. Leyden added, “The Gum Litter Taskforce has been successful to date in changing the public’s behaviour by encouraging correct gum disposal through a targeted education awareness campaign and demonstrates the power of government and industry alliance in driving positive change. The latest results of the National Litter Pollution Monitoring report showed that the percentage of gum as a proportion of litter at 8%, down from 15.15% the previous year (2016) and from 26.37% when the campaign first began.”

Marie Neylon, Chairperson, Corofin Tidy Towns, commented, “It is wonderful that Corofin National School are supporting our tidy towns group by getting behind this campaign and helping promote it in our community.  We are also delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Gum Litter Taskforce (GLT) team and Clare County Council to help us deliver this campaign in Corofin during 2019 with a common goal to fight gum litter.”

For more see www.gumlittertaskforce.ie.

PHOTO: Children from Corofin National School joined by Joe O’ Connell, PRO, Corofin Tidy Towns; Marie Neylon Chairperson, Corofin Tidy Towns; Conor Leyden, Environmental Community Warden, Clare County Council, at the launch of the Gum Litter Taskforce’s gum litter education campaign. Pic Eamon Ward. 

Page last reviewed: 26/06/19

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