Tip number 15: Don't be a litterbug
We are so used to seeing this it barely registers anymore.
Because gum isn't biodegradable, it can pose a threat to specific ecosystems. Animals, such as birds, often mistake gum for food and can die due to digestion complications. Isoamyl acetate, a gum flavor ingredient, is a bee pheromone, making it possible for littered gum products to disrupt bee behavior. We have enough bee issues because of pesticides as it is. The chemicals used to clean gum off the pavement are toxic to the environment but the stuff is so tough that nothing else will get it off. You'll know this if you've ever got it stuck on your clothes or in your hair. Gum is also a hotbed for bacteria and that creates an unhealthy environment for humans. Singapore has actually banned chewing gum in public! I'm not sure how they've enforced it but it's been that way for more than 10 years and it seems to be working.
Because gum isn't biodegradable, it can pose a threat to specific ecosystems. Animals, such as birds, often mistake gum for food and can die due to digestion complications. Isoamyl acetate, a gum flavor ingredient, is a bee pheromone, making it possible for littered gum products to disrupt bee behavior. We have enough bee issues because of pesticides as it is. The chemicals used to clean gum off the pavement are toxic to the environment but the stuff is so tough that nothing else will get it off. You'll know this if you've ever got it stuck on your clothes or in your hair. Gum is also a hotbed for bacteria and that creates an unhealthy environment for humans. Singapore has actually banned chewing gum in public! I'm not sure how they've enforced it but it's been that way for more than 10 years and it seems to be working.
There is more than 1 million metric tons of chewing gum produced every year. There are over 374 trillion sticks of chewing gum made every year. That doesn't include bubble gum. The average person chews over 300 pieces of chewing gum a year. Most of that is thrown on the ground or out of car windows. There are about 1600 known species of bacteria. We find bacteria all around us and they can be transferred through all sorts of mediums including the things we know like coughs, sneezes, dirty hands, contaminated foods, a sick person's body fluids but, did you know they are also transferred through chewing gum?
The second thing that MANY humans are guilty of is throwing cigarette butts out of car windows, over walls, anywhere on the ground etc. For some reason, people think these are environmentally friendly? If that's not the reason then someone please enlighten me as to why this is common practice because it's obvious they don't think twice about throwing them any old place but in a bin. Some may say they stink and don't want them in the bin in the house or that they are a fire hazard... Yes... they DO stink... yes... they ARE a fire hazard... so why go and place them in the environment and mess it up for everyone else and contribute to causing fires that destroy so much of the environment? They are toxic and they're dangerous when alight, pure and simple. They may eventually biodegrade but at what cost? They are leeching dangerous toxins into the ground. They are also being mistaken for food by animals and are poisoning them. You have made a choice to poison your body but I don't understand why the environment must suffer too. Can you tell this makes me mad;)
Researchers estimate that 1.7 billion pounds of cigarette butts accumulate in lakes and oceans and on beaches and the rest of the planet every year! These cigarette butts contain the same dangerous chemicals contained in a cigarette, including carcinogens and other poisons. Globally, about 4.3 trillion cigarette butts litter the earth every year. Smokers in America ALONE contribute more than 250 billion cigarette butts to that number. The UK contributes 200 tons of butts, and Australian smokers, more than 7 billion cigarette butts every year. In most Western countries cigarette butt litter accounts for approximately 50 percent of ALL litter. That little butt you just flicked out of your window? Bet you didn't think it would contribute to something of that magnitude. Most of you wouldn't think of doing that with a coke can. Why is a cigarette butt any different?
If you are guilty of littering in either of these two ways, now is your chance to stop. You can buy ashtrays for your car that minimize smell and smoke. If you don't want your car to smell like an ashtray, don't smoke in it... It's really not fair to keep your own personal space clean by throwing out cigarettes to the detriment of the environment and those who are trying to keep it clean. While cigarettes are the world's biggest contributors to litter, chewing gum is second in the list. Once gum is made, it is going to be on the earth FOREVER. It won't compost or biodegrade, you can't even get rid of it by swallowing it. Your stomach will send it out whole and then it will be the sewerage system's problem. It's a problem that isn't going to go away. The best thing you can do is carry scrap paper in a pocket or your handbag and, when you are done with it, fold it securely in the paper and throw it in a rubbish bin. This will at least stop it from being such a health hazard and it will keep it in one place instead of lining our streets.
That's it. Only one tip for today because I think it's an important one and needed more than just a paragraph. I really hope that it makes you think a bit and I hope you will feel brave enough to confront your friends when they do this without thinking. Good friends won't mind. Sometimes people just don't put two and two together. It doesn't make them bad people at all. They'll more than likely WANT to do something to fix it because, I like to believe that people are still inherently good and WANT to do what's right. Call me Pollyanna;)
Because gum isn't biodegradable, it can pose a threat to specific ecosystems. Animals, such as birds, often mistake gum for food and can die due to digestion complications. Isoamyl acetate, a gum flavor ingredient, is a bee pheromone, making it possible for littered gum products to disrupt bee behavior. We have enough bee issues because of pesticides as it is. The chemicals used to clean gum off the pavement are toxic to the environment but the stuff is so tough that nothing else will get it off. You'll know this if you've ever got it stuck on your clothes or in your hair. Gum is also a hotbed for bacteria and that creates an unhealthy environment for humans. Singapore has actually banned chewing gum in public! I'm not sure how they've enforced it but it's been that way for more than 10 years and it seems to be working.
There is more than 1 million metric tons of chewing gum produced every year. There are over 374 trillion sticks of chewing gum made every year. That doesn't include bubble gum. The average person chews over 300 pieces of chewing gum a year. Most of that is thrown on the ground or out of car windows. There are about 1600 known species of bacteria. We find bacteria all around us and they can be transferred through all sorts of mediums including the things we know like coughs, sneezes, dirty hands, contaminated foods, a sick person's body fluids but, did you know they are also transferred through chewing gum?
If you are guilty of littering in either of these two ways, now is your chance to stop. You can buy ashtrays for your car that minimize smell and smoke. If you don't want your car to smell like an ashtray, don't smoke in it... It's really not fair to keep your own personal space clean by throwing out cigarettes to the detriment of the environment and those who are trying to keep it clean. While cigarettes are the world's biggest contributors to litter, chewing gum is second in the list. Once gum is made, it is going to be on the earth FOREVER. It won't compost or biodegrade, you can't even get rid of it by swallowing it. Your stomach will send it out whole and then it will be the sewerage system's problem. It's a problem that isn't going to go away. The best thing you can do is carry scrap paper in a pocket or your handbag and, when you are done with it, fold it securely in the paper and throw it in a rubbish bin. This will at least stop it from being such a health hazard and it will keep it in one place instead of lining our streets.
That's it. Only one tip for today because I think it's an important one and needed more than just a paragraph. I really hope that it makes you think a bit and I hope you will feel brave enough to confront your friends when they do this without thinking. Good friends won't mind. Sometimes people just don't put two and two together. It doesn't make them bad people at all. They'll more than likely WANT to do something to fix it because, I like to believe that people are still inherently good and WANT to do what's right. Call me Pollyanna;)
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