Lesley Smitheringale Fine Art

Gum Disposal bins in Toronto, Cananda

an extract from the website “Introducing envyrobubble -

It all began with a casual stroll, shopping downtown. We weren’t trying tochange the world, we were just two moms with a weakness for beautiful shoes. But then: splat! We stopped in our tracks only to discover the bottoms of our Manolo Blahniks covered in gooey gum.

That got us thinking. Why were people throwing gum on the sidewalk? And why wasn’t there a place to dispose of it in an environmentally responsible way?

We did our homework and realized a public gum container would have to be designed specifically for gum, so we gave it a unique shape. It had to get attention and raise awareness of responsible gum disposal, so we covered it with a fun, eye-catching spiral design and made it scream bubble gum pink. Then we joined forces with a leading recycler to ensure that the gum collected became something useful: fertilizer.”

Website: http://www.envyrobubble.com/

Now, I’ve got to say that I have trouble with this.  Have we reached the stage that there have to be bins to cater for chewed gum, just like cigarette butts, dare I say condoms and disgarded MacDonald’s wrappers? 

Just how prevalent is gum chewing these days?  Surely it has not reached epidemic proportions to justify these techno-coloured bins in every city by following Toronto’s lead?

Why do we have to even acknowledge this filthy habit?  What kind of message do these bins give when tourists or young children see them - that this is the norm?  Do we need to have councilling groups set up for “gum addicts” in every city?  “Hello, my name is Steve and I am a gumaholic”!”

We had gum when I was a teenager and we managed to dispose of it ok without any ’special’ bins.  Another trend, or am I being old fashioned!