25th Govember 2019
What do pavements and the underside of school desks have in common? Yep, you got it. Chewing gum. The stuff is absolutely everywhere because 9 times out of 10, it isn't disposed of properly and ends up getting stuck to the first thing it touches.
Gum is a mixture of a gum base and flavour and colour. A type of tree sap, called chicle, used to be used as the gum base, however, it is more frequently a synthetic alternative to chicle. This unnatural substitute is made out of plastics, which are made from petroleum and oil-based materials. Gross, right?!
Once you're finished chewing away at your chunk of plastic, it gets to the second part of its life, which is a LOT longer. Try hundreds of years longer. Even after these hundreds of years have passed, the gum may have broken down, but as it's not biodegradable there will always be traces left over, in the form of microplastics. So, that little bit of gum you just threw on the pavement, unless it's physically removed by someone, it'll stay in that exact same position long after you die.
Not only does gum add to our increasing accumulation of microplastics, but animals will often mistake chewing gum for food and end up choking or having it clog up their digestive system!
So, there are a few take away points from this, the main being DON'T CHEW GUM! But, if you really want to, make sure you dispose of it correctly or even better, chew biodegradable gum from brands like Peppersmith.
Come back tomorrow for glitter!