Hot pink bubbles are appearing on light and sign posts around U.K. streets; they’re small globe-shaped receptacles for chewing gum called Gumdrops. The hope is that people will dispose of their Wrigley sticks in these fixtures instead of on the sidewalk.
Gumdrop Ltd. has been in the works since 2008, with its developers determining effective placement and how often the bins need to be replaced, as well as who is most likely to use them.
According to Slate, Gumdrop is the world’s first “closed loop” recycling system for gum, with the flavorless deposits processed to create more Gumdrop receptacles.
Trials have shown potential in mitigating average city cleaning costs. Slate noted one instance where two bins in the men’s restroom of the Southampton Airport saved an estimated $4,620 in one year:
Another Gumdrop trial reduced the gum litter on London’s busy Villiers Street by 40 percent. That’s quite something, given that a complete de-gumming of Oxford Street, less than two miles long, requires three months of steam-cleaning and typically removes more than 300,000 pieces of gum.
Gumdrop is expanding into Europe and has its eyes on cities in the U.S., where a reported 59 percent of people chew gum.
(Credit: Gumdrop Ltd.)
Marielle Mondon is an editor and freelance journalist in Philadelphia. Her work has appeared in Philadelphia City Paper, Wild Magazine, and PolicyMic. She previously reported on communities in Northern Manhattan while earning an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University.
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