YOUNGSTERS from across Dudley borough have been urged to be environmentally friendly during a visit from an award winning drama-based education programme.

Bin it!, which educates students about responsibility and litter, visited schools in Stourbridge, Halesowen and Dudley as part of its annual nationwide tour to encourage young people to work together to make a lasting change to local areas and keep their environment tidy.

The group performed their shows at Pedmore Technology College and Community School, Ellowes Hall Sports College and Leasowes High School – which was attended by Deputy Mayor of Dudley, Councillor Alan Taylor.

Developed by The Wrigley Company, in partnership with specialist education consultancy Rapport, Bin it! is targeted at 11 to 13-year-olds and is designed to explore the issues and impact of littering, helping students to understand why it is so important to take personal responsibility for correct litter disposal.

Evaluation of last year’s tour showed that two-thirds of respondents said the roadshow increased their knowledge about littering, while up to six weeks after the show, the number of children who said they believed that they should try to recycle more increased to 77 per cent.

Julie Lovell, public affairs senior manager, said: “Bin it! has been an incredibly successful programme to date and we are delighted to have reached over 140,000 pupils across the UK over the last ten years.

“We hope that its success will continue to grow as we reach out to even more young people, reinforcing our messages around littering and urging children to take pride in and look after their local communities and environments.”