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Gum Challenge For an entire month, we challenge you to not eat any gum with rubber in it. You may be thinking, “Rubber?” Many are unaware, but most gums actually contain synthetic rubber, usually found in the ‘gum base’, which takes as long as any other plastic to decompose. You aren’t even chewing the gum for that long, so is the negative environmental impact worth it? Gum is the second most littered item in the world, behind cigarette butts, and it takes much longer to decompose. People often throw chewed gum on the ground, under tables, and under benches instead of the garbage bin, which is incredibly unhygienic. Sometimes, people end up accidentally touching or sitting on the gum. Then, those people go and touch other things, spreading germs and bacteria. What if that person who was chewing the gum was sick? That’s a whole other story. We chose this particular challenge because 80-90% of gum is not recycled correctly. This affects our planet in a negative way because of a non-biodegradable ingredient in the gum called gum base. Gum base contains a natural substance, rosin, which is produced by pine trees. But, it also contains butyl rubber, a man-made product that is incredibly harmful to the environment. This rubber is used by almost every gum company in the world. When gum was first discovered in the mid 1800’s, it was a originally simple form of tree sap. It wasn’t harmful to our environment because it was a natural plant based product. However, in the 1960’s, gum was produced with synthetic rubbers. Since then, our planet became contaminated with it and has continued to be polluted by gum for the past 60 years. In 2015, the money spent on gum combined comes to a total of $25.83 billion dollars! When people do not recycle their used gum properly, it accumulates and pollutes our home, Earth. Now, there are recycling initiatives created in cities around the world such as London, UK, where designated recycling bins are located throughout the city just for chewing gum. When gum is disposed of properly, it can be recycled into plastic containers and children’s toys to create a happier planet. When gum is just thrown into the regular trash can, however, it ends up in landfills, and slowly but surely it accumulates with all the other garbage that cannot be recycled, wrecking our environment. When gum is thrown on our streets and sidewalks, it creates even more problems which negatively affect our Earth, for all the gum stuck to the pavement has to be cleaned off by machines and toxic chemicals, which further pollutes our air and water. Another way gum is harmful to our environment is the air pollution that is produced by large paper manufacturing plants that make all the packaging and wrappers. It’s ironic that such a small consumer product can have such huge negative effects on our precious Earth! The next time you decide to purchase a pack of gum and/or choose to throw your piece of chewed gum on the street, remember how we are hurting our world in such a big way! Luckily, there are some solutions. 1. Gum Alternatives - Simply Gum - Chicza Chewing Gum - Train Gum - Glee Gum These are gums that don’t contain rubber. Instead of using rubber, these chewing gums just take out the rubber altogether, therefore you are allowed to chew these types of gums for this challenge. 2. If you are not able to buy any of those brands and have a constant craving for gum or want to chew, Mentos (not the gum), Gummies, and Tic-Tac’s will help the craving die down. If you are seeking freshness, try using these alternatives this month. I mostly chew gum for the flavour, and when the flavour goes away I quickly throw out the gum. So why not chew Mentos or other flavoured candy instead, since the flavor will last just as long? 3. If you chew gum to have nice breath, you can chew parsley instead. However it must be fresh parsley. Chewing parsley is both healthier and more natural. Mints will also work. 4. Lastly, you can always decide to not chew gum at all. - The streets will stay cleaner and you won’t get sticky shoes - There will be less non-biodegradable materials in our environment. We hope to have created awareness amongst gum chewers regarding the negative effects that gum has on our planet. We hope you will say no the next time someone offers you a piece of gum, even if it’s just during this month’s challenge. Next time you feel like having some gum, think before you chew.
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