Re: Re: 500 tons of chewing gum

@Carlow Nationalist wrote:

Make chewing gum less clingy to solve the sticky issue of litter

LATERAL thinking has been applied by a Carlow senator, who has come up with a novel way of tackling the huge costs of cleaning up chewing gum.

Senator Fergal Browne has described Environment Minister Dick Roche’s attempts to get the chewing gum industry to fund an anti-litter campaign as “ineffective”.

Instead he advocates an alternative approach – to put pressure on the industry to make its product less sticky.

Referring to a study that was carried out by some Carlow students last year as part of the Young Scientist competition, Senator Browne highlighted that each year 65,000 pieces of chewing gum were discarded on our footpaths.

“The Irish Government should put pressure on chewing gum companies to make chewing gum less sticky, instead of talking about them funding publicity campaigns which have been proven in the past to be almost totally ineffective,” said Senator Browne.

“A campaign will do nothing to help reduce the huge costs associated with cleaning gum off our streets, costs that a study undertaken in Carlow last year illustrated.

“By reducing the costs of removing chewing gum off our streets local authorities would save millions of euros each year which could be put to good use by helping to clean up towns even further.” According to the Fine Gael senator, the study by the students at St Mary’s Academy also estimated that over half a kilo of gum is discarded on Tullow Street every week. In 2003 Carlow Town Council spent •250,000 on street cleaning.

“Technology now exists to make chewing gum less sticky, as advocated by Tom Kavanagh of the Irish Business Against Litter League, and this must be pushed instead of a futile publicity campaign,” he argued.

“If the Minister truly believes a publicity campaign will have the desired effect he should publish any data available to him that can prove this. He should also explain how he sees litter wardens imposing fines on people who spit out chewing gum will work.”

Majella O’Sullian

© Carlow Nationalist .

I am considering implementing a ban on chewing gum on the buildings I manage due to the effects of discarded gunk.