Chewing gum has become a real problem on our streets with chewing gum litter being present in 95% of areas surveyed in town centres. Not only is chewing gum the most persistent type of litter to deal with it is the most difficult and costly to remove. Due to its strong adhesion, it is highly resistant to aggressive chemicals and has to be specially removed by cleansing machines costing nearly £100,000 a year!
The council’s environmental education team are running an anti chewing-gum awareness campaign to highlight the cost and problem that chewing gum litter creates in our town centres and neighbourhoods. Surveys carried out with visitors and locals showed that gum and staining was the single biggest environmental issue affecting our town centres.
To tackle the problem, Wigan Council successfully bid for national funding through the DEFRA-chaired Chewing Gum Action Group.
There will be a very visible message to gum users: ‘Guilty! Not charged. Bin your gum. Avoid a fine of up to £80.’ And the council's environmental education team are working in schools and communities to reduce the problem.
There is also a competition running in many borough schools this Autumn where children are being asked to create an anti-chewing gum character. If you would like the team to visit your school, you can contact us for further details.
Once everyone is in no doubt about the message, October promises to be the toughest month for enforcement yet. In order to monitor the success of the campaign cleansing will be carried out at numerous sites throughout the borough and the reappearance of gum deposits at these sites will be counted.
In Schools
As part of the campaign, the environmental education team will also be working with schools, businesses and community groups across the borough.
Schoolchildren from will receive educational lessons and be entered into chewing gum themed competitions:
- Key Stage 2 pupils will be asked to design a comic strip that highlights the problems chewing gum litter causes, with chosen entries being printed in the Wigan Observer, Wigan Reporter or Leigh Journal. The winning design can be voted for by the public and the overall winner will receive a special prize including a framed copy of the design along with vouchers to spend.
- Key Stage 3 pupils will be asked to produce a new Wrap-it design. The winning design will be produced on a limited edition of the Wrap-it.
Wrap-Its will are also available FREE from local businesses, leisure centres and community centres across the borough to encourage the responsible disposal of chewing gum. Click the link to the left for more details
