Swansea gum campaign to target schools

Dylan

Thomas Community School will be the first school in Wales to launch the GumTarget Initiative which is part of the school's aim to raise awareness of responsible disposable of gum.

Chris Michailidis, Eco Co-oridnator for Dylan Thomas School said, "The Gum Targets have proven successful in the city centre and we'd like to encourage our children to use them in school.

"Discarded chewing gum around the school grounds can create a negative impression and I know our children are keen to help in preventing the problem. By encouraging responsible disposal of chewing gum at the school it will also ensure they dispose of their gum responsibly in public."

The scheme aims to encourage gum chewers to deposit their gum on a special disposal board called a GumTarget. The front of the GumTarget carries pictures and messages aimed at capturing the attention of gum chewers and encouraging them to dispose of their gum responsibly.

Other schools are expected to follow Dylan Thomas School's lead very soon.

The GumTargets were first introduced in Swansea city centre last year at several locations including Oxford Street, Wind St and and the Kingsway and have been hailed as an outstanding success.

The City Centre Partnership says the target boards in high visibility areas are now being cleared every day and that people have really bought into the goal of minimising the mess.

It is estimated the problem of chewing gum costs local authorities in the UK about £150million per year.

Nicola Parkinson, from the City Centre Partnership said, "The GumTargets have been a great success in our city centre and means that that we can now expand it to schools and we'd like to hear from more schools who would like to get involved.

"Chewing gum may seem like a fairly insignificant problem to many but it costs a lot to remove and is a blight on the environment. By changing children's attitudes in the long-term towards dropping gum on streets it will lead to a reduction in pollution and costs."

Gum Facts

• Chewing gum is used by 28 million people in the UK

• 1 billion packs of gum are sold in the UK every year

• 92% of cities are affected by chewing gum litter

• A piece of littered chewing gum costs an average of 30 pence to remove

• Chewing gum takes 5 years to biodegrade

Meteora Limited

Meteora Limited is the award winning company behind the innovative GumTarget™ Chewing Gum Initiative. Meteora's dedicated team, focuses on litter prevention and awareness, this initiative is gathering momentum as gum features highly on the list of public annoyances following dog fouling and drug users needles. The appearance of chewing gum litter in an otherwise well kept space gives the illusion of littering, whilst removal of chewing gum in the UK alone costs in the region of £150 million per year.

Customer Contact:

Ian Kenyon

Meteora Limited

Tel: +44 (0) 7739 789483

Fax: +44 (0) 1202 777767

email: ian.kenyon@meteoralimited.com 

 Sign up for daily news alerts at www.swansea.gov.uk/subscribe

 Follow us on Twitter

 Council News Feed