Sunday, 22 December 2013

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #75 Give up Chewing Gum

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #75 Give up Chewing Gum

I’m not even going to attempt to debate the health benefits/concerns of chewing gum. I can give you several other reasons why you should give it up though: it comes in plastic wrappers that end up in landfill or waterways; the chewed item is often not disposed of correctly and ends up in socially inappropriate places such as under tables, on footpaths, under hand rails etc; because of its adhesive nature when cold, it becomes extremely difficult and expensive to clean up; even when disposed of correctly, it is yet another non-biodegradable item that will remain in landfill for years.
This product is made from gum base, and can contain polyvinyl acetate, which is toxic. Furthermore, exactly what the ingredients in the gum base are, no one is compelled to disclose, and the providers of gum base to the manufacturers won’t provide complete information about the ingredients. So, not being able to determine exactly what is in this product, why would you chew it?
And I’ll harp yet again about the likelihood of tossed chewing gum ending up in waterways where it can be ingested by marine and bird life and cause illness/death.

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