A n d r e w s G u m W o r l d

Ben Wilson, Chewing Gum Artist, originally uploaded by Kevin the Collie.

We just posted a video about the work of Ben Wilson who, amidst all the discarded gum of Britain (see numerous posts, elsewhere in AndrewsGumWorld about this scourge), has decided to make art of it.

If you’d like to explore more of Ben’s work of turning used chewing gum into something somehow more beautiful, check out this great Flickr gallery of his work (and props out to Rahid1 for gathering many examples of this work into one place on Flickr).

We’ve featured the great British designer Anna Bullus before with her gum recycling bins made out of recycled gum. One other great product she’s produced is the Gumnetics pad, a memory foam-like cushion, which also uses recycled gum and bio-resin. You can see the mint flavored version above.

If you didn’t read about it the first time through, here’s some insight into her work on the Inhabitat website and you can peruse more of Bullus’s work on her own incredible site here.

Pud’s Clubhouse is part of the Dubble Bubble website, and there is the usual array of fun and games and facts and history available, but it also turns out that Pud is handy with a computer (or at least a computer mouse), and if you can’t get enough of gum production processes, you’ll want to catch his virtual tour of bubblegum and gumball production, including Dubble Bubble trucks that take 20 tons each of Dubble Bubble to places as far away as Saudi Arabia.

Additionally, there are an array of great gum stories on the site, ranging from an 86-year-old who recounts a story of one of the Dubble Bubble trucks crashing (with Dubble Bubble strewn everywhere) to a 12-year-old who got bubble gum stuck in her hair after she scared her sister (there’s a head-shaving and wig involved in that story.)

In some earlier posts, we’ve explored the importance of proper gum disposal and the growing world of gum recycling bins to help meet that need.

Above is a really cool chrome one from our friends at Gummy Bins, a company more generally known for their more whimsical gum bin offerings:

In North America, Gummy Bin (which is a company that, perhaps unsurprisingly, began in the UK), has Recycle Media as its exclusive distributor. the company is a full service environmental advertising and marketing company, which does a lot of really great stuff that promotes the importance of recycling and re-use (to explore more of what they do, click here).

The section of their site that features Gummy Bins offers some haunting statistics on gum use (and abuse) in the United States, noting that discarded gum in the United States is now considered one of the most difficult forms of litter to remove in urban centers. Among the facts, figures and theories they include are these:

• The cost for gum removal is roughly US$2 to $3 per discarded piece of gum
• Gum chewers in the US buy US$2 billion of gum each year
• The majority of discarded chewing gum never reaches the litter bin

So, at the risk of sounding schoolmarmish, do remember that unwrapped gum belongs in one of two places: in your mouth or in the garbage (or, perhaps increasingly, in the Gummy Bin).

A couple of months back, Brandweek reported that Wrigley will launch its Slim Pack this fall (along with new gum-flavored lip balms, which is a different story, I imagine). The Slim Pack will replace the PlenTPak, in use by Wrigley since 1964 (and by Gum Guy since 1993; see above), and will contain 15 sticks instead of 17. The new approach echoes the packaging for Wrigley’s new “5” brand and will offer gum chewers more portability and durability, and “more space on the shelf” in stores. The website PackExpo offers full details in its “Executive Brief” section on the new packaging, including the detail that the plain foil wrappers themselves will be “imprinted with Wrigley’s, plus tiny repeating icons of persons tossing trash into garbage can(s),” perhaps good news indeed in motivational reinforcement for gum chewers in cities around the world, including those in the UK who are struggling with disposed gum on the street (see posts everywhere throughout this blog).

On a personal note, it’s particularly sad news after spending more than a decade to perfect the art of typically juggling six PlenTPaks in each hand, but it will offers a new and interesting challenge, one supposes.

Here’s a sneak peek at the look of the new Slim Pack:

A couple of years back, the Lancaster City Council in England began to battle their litter and gum problem with free gum wraps (pictured above) distributed via Marks & Spencer and other high street shops. They allowed the gum chewer to tear off a small sheet, and wrap up their gum until it can be properly disposed of. Actually dropping the gum on the street, sans wrapper, brought a £75 fine.

Today, Croydon joined the battle, as its Business Improvement District (BID) announced its campaign against gum littering. Ros Morgan, who heads Croydon’s BID, suggests that this new approach is “a multi-faceted campaign which should really help clean up the hot spot areas around Croydon.”

“Gum Wraps,” which will be widely distributed on city streets will help youngsters get rid of their gum, instead of discarding it on the pavement. Neighbourhood Enforcement Officers will enforced a similar fixed £75 fine for those who ignore the admonition to “Chew this Over” and dispose of gum appropriately.

There is also a poem competition later this year, run by Centrale and Whitgift shopping centres, which will invite entries for original poems about throwing chewing gum in the bin. Over £325 in shopping vouchers will be offered to winners.

Croydon has been selected as one of 16 areas across England to introduce similar schemes from the Government’s Chewing Gum Action Group.

The Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA) of Fargo, North Dakota held its first gum-off on Sunday, August 3, to tackle generations of discarded gum (Donna Rodenburg of the Fargo DNA is shown taking part in the effort in this Jay Pickthorn photograph for The Forum). Association President Norm Robinson, in an article for In-Forum News of Fargo, said the task was particularly challenging because the gum has “been stepped on, it’s been sunned on, it’s been melted, it’s been frozen.” The volunteers who took part planned to tackle Broadway Avenue between NP Avenue to Sixth Avenue.

Jamie Marraccini is a gum artist who has created 30 pieces of art from 35,000 sticks or so of gum over the last 17 years. You can visit an online gallery of his art here, and if you’d like to create your own gum art, you can visit his Chew by Numbers site here.

The piece above, “Bordering on Reality” was created from more than 2,000 sticks of gum between 1992 and 1993.