If gum stays in your stomach for seven years after you swallow it, then it surely can’t be good for the environment! Well, truth be told, it doesn’t stay in your stomach that long - but even if you’re chewing sour-apple gum, it isn’t necessarily “green.
Next to cigarette butts, chewing gum is the second largest source of litter in the world. Gum is banned in Singapore. A woman in the UK has discovered a way to create plastic out of used gum.
Businesses and government (ahem, us!) pay millions of dollars a year to clean up gum that lands on our pavement. Not to mention all the chemicals (and gum) that then wash into our sewers and groundwater.
If gum is a must-have item, you might want to focus your efforts more on choosing a gum that is made sustainably or has green packaging. Glee Gum is made from sustainably harvested rainforest chicle, includes no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or sweeteners, and the packaging is recyclable.
And put your ABC gum in the trash for crying out loud!
