500 tons of chewing gum
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Last year, minister Cullen estimated that 500 tons of chewing gum were disposed of on Irish streets.
http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/doeipub.nsf/0/900D9D6EF657368180256D9400389F0C?OpenDocument&Lang=enRecently the DoE published a consultants’ study on litter that recommended taxing chewing gum to pay for its environmental clean up costs.
http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIPub.nsf/6fb57b90102ce64c80256d12003a7a0d/41f0a0b86eee08a580256f18002ee844?OpenDocumentStrangely, the report advocates taxing gum at a level unlikely to discourage purchase (10% or 5c per packet) and suggests that the €5m raised would go toward the costs of clean up. How could 500 tonnes of gum be removed for €5m? You could also ask how the tax take would be ringfenced for gum clean up.
What about making the tax about €2 per packet so that sales, particularly to children, drop to nothing? I know I sound like Scrooge advocating removing childrens’ icecreams but the drawbacks of gum must exceed the benefits many times over.
The DoE web site advertises a public consultation on this report but the links are broken. Does anyone have a view on this sticky topic?
It manky stuff alright,
you can’t beat the polo mint for keeping the gob fresh
Originally posted by Frank Taylor
What about making the tax about €2 per packet so that sales, particularly to children, drop to nothing? I know I sound like Scrooge advocating removing childrens’ icecreams but the drawbacks of gum must exceed the benefits many times over.
The sugarless gums have actually been proved to be good for oral heigeine. The chewing gum issue on our streets is just a small example of our attitudes to rubbish in general. Just because of its nature we cannot miss it. Say, for example, if Mars Bar wrappers happened to stick to our pavements they would be covered in them. Putting a tax on chewing gum is not going to solve this problem. It is our overall attitude towards rubbish in general that is going to have to improve.
Originally posted by phil
The sugarless gums have actually been proved to be good for oral heigeine.True, thats a benefit.
Originally posted by phil Putting a tax on chewing gum is not going to solve this problem.
It did seem to work for plastic bags.
Firstly, I never heard of any benefit what so ever from plastic bags. Secondly, and interesting that you should mention it, I am beginning to have reservations about the plastic bag levy. I think it has been quite successful up until now, but the other day I was in a shop and handed a plastic bag without being charged for it. The other thing about the plastic bag levy is that we have no indication from many (not all) retailers as to where all the paper for the replacement paper bags is coming from.
themook, maybe I did not explain myself properly. What I meant was that there is no benefit in terms of the environment or health. You can obviously carry things with plastic bags, but the handy thing about them is that you can use them again and again.
aye, just being pedantic..
anyway you shouldn’t chew gum.. in the same way it stimulates saliva production, it also releases enzymes in the stomach, not healthy where theres no food in it!
i am amazed that the chewing gum industry hasn’t come up with chewing gum that is stable for the time scales involved in chewing but degrades over longer time scales. perhaps they haven’t really tried, well, here’s a way to make them try: tax non-degradable gums.
i am amazed that the chewing gum industry hasn’t come up with chewing gum that is stable for the time scales involved in chewing but degrades over longer time scales. perhaps they haven’t really tried, well, here’s a way to make them try: tax non-degradable gums.
Originally posted by phil
What I meant was that there is no benefit in terms of the environment or health.Round sligo, my birthplace, there’s a particularly strong culture of throwing your rubbish out the car window. The bushes are slowly starting to resemble bushes rather than christmas trees since the plastic bag ban came in. That’s got to be good. Still plenty of coke and lucazade bottles in them bushes though.
So I think we can agree that chewing gum mess destroys the visual qualities of stone flags on footpaths and bridges. It can also damage clothes and shoes.
On the plus side:
It has dental health benefits when sugarfree.
It generates revenue for the chewing gum companies and retailers.
Some people enjoy chewing it.We disagree about how to remedy.
Possibilities are :
1. small tax: to raise revenue for cleaning
2. large tax: to dicourage purchase, esp. by kids
3. national change of attitude to litter: people stop being filthy
4. invention of biodegradable chewing gum: means gum would disappear over time
5. absolute ban except for nicorette (as introduced in Singapore): means you have to smuggle it in to the country
6. Spend loads of cash on top quality gum cleaning machines and hire people to use them all over the country
7. ?? Any more suggestions ??Incidentally, O’Connell Street and Henry Street’s new flags are nowhere near as damaged by gum as I would have expected by this stage. Is DCC removing the gum every week or something?
I agree that the bag levy has been a resounding success and I’m sure something similar can be applied to gum. I think the main culprits, however, are the new boxes and packets of unwrapped gum. At least with the sticks the conscientious chewer always had a piece of paper or foil to wrap it up in before binning / putting in pocket or bag.
Perhaps we could have designated collection points and we could persuade Cristo to eschew (or perhaps that should be es-chew?) paper for a similar gum wrapping of a particularly offensive Dublin building. Gum as cladding? In the winter all the gum would freeze and fall off and be easily collected.
Any suggestions for a building? I’ll open the bidding with any Jurys Inn of your choice
That is a good idea Burge_Eye. I agree that it is the ones without a wrapper to use in disposal that are the main culprits. I wonder would it help if it was compulsory for companies to use individual wrappers again?
I certainly hope we don’t go down the route some UK towns took recently of erecting boards on lamposts on which to stick your gum. I never heard of anything more disgusting, boards at eye-level laden with knobs of manky gum.
The plastic bag levy was succcessful because of alternatives to the plastic bags but people aren’t necessarily going to give up gum if it’s overpriced. I think a tax that is just sufficient to cover the cost of cleaning is appropriate, and that the money be ringfenced. As much as I’d like to see the stuff got rid of, I don’t think it’s fair the rest of us be penalised for the actions of such ignorant users.
It’s interesting though – has anyone actually ever seen anyone throw or spit gum on the ground? It’s extraordinary how much of the stuff there is down there and yet you never see people do it!
Those are two good points you make Graham. I particularly agree with the one about never seeing anyone throwing it away. I suppose it is because of its sticky nature that there is so much of around. I wonder if it would be possible to survey an area and watch how many pieces are actually spat out on to the ground during a 24 hour period?
I croosed the hay’ penny bridge in Dublin at the weekend, God, it’s destroyed with chewing gum already. Never seen such a concentration of the stuff. I presume this wasn’t there afte its reopening a few years ago
Chewing gum target – as featured on yankodesign
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