The gum wall in Seattle, WA.
Anyone who has had the misfortune of landing themselves in trouble may be familiar with the experience of scraping gum off from under desks, pews, and tables. Traveling to New York, the undersides of handrails are covered with the hard sticky substance. In Seattle, there is an entire wall covered with it.
A new product is trying to reduce the waste of gum, by making it biodegradable. After usage, the gum will not become adhesive (so it cant be stuck under the desk during class). It will become hard, and over six weeks it will turn to dust. It take years for regular gum to disappear. Anyone in the custodial field must be rejoicing, as no longer will they have to use harsh chemicals and aggressive maneuvers to remove the substance where it has been improperly discarded.
“It takes 17 weeks to remove chewing gum from Oxford Street but only 10 days for it to be covered in gum again.” (The Telegraph)
The biodegradable chewing treat is made from the gum of chicozapote trees, much like the process of how maple is retrieved. The trees are cut and the substance oozes out of it like a wound. The trees are not mortally injured throughout the process. The incisions eventually heal.
Chicza is the company responsible for hiring men to go into rain-forests and climb trees, acquiring the natural ingrediants to be processed and sold as biodegradable gum.
Chicza gum will indubitably help keeping streets clean from those who can’t resist spitting gum wherever. Consumer Reports say the gum is pleasant tasting, and when turns into something like a pebble before slowly degrading to dust.
Innovation is once again helping solve an age-old problem.
Sources:
http://articles.cnn.com/2009-04-03/tech/chewing.gum.bio_1_chewing-gum-cnn?_s=PM:TECH
Images:
http://www.westlacountphotography.com/image_gallery.cfm?photo_number=19
