Chewing Gum

Did you know?

20 million people in the UK use chewing gum each year that is 935 million packs
Discarded gum can be dangerous for wild animals and pets. It can get caught in feathers and fur and if swallowed can lead to suffocation

Oxford city centre suffers from a high level of improper chewing gum disposal and it costs taxpayers £45,000 a year to clear up.

What is the Chewing Gum campaign?

Wrap it, Bin it, Easy Isn't it? - that's the message Oxford City Council is promoting in our campaign to tackle the problem of chewing gum in the city.

The aim of the advertising campaign is to raise awareness of the problem of chewing gum litter and encourage people to throw it away responsibly.

What are we doing to promote the campaign?

We have targeted 'hot spots' around the city centre. These 'hot spots' are:

Queens Street, including Bonn Square
Carfax
Cornmarket
Gloucester Green Bus Station

In these areas we have put stickers on bins, and targeting publicity. We have also been monitoring these areas for improvements.

What is the fine for dropping gum?

If a person is caught dropping gum it is the same as littering and is subject to a fine or Fixed Penalty Notice of £75

Environmental Enforcement Officers will also be targeting people who drop cigarette butts and litter during the four week campaign to tackle the problem of chewing gum.

What have been the results of the campaign?

During the one month campaign in September 2007, there was a 63 per cent decrease in chewing gum litter thrown in Oxford's city centre streets.

Twelve locations in the city centre were monitored in the month before the campaign and then again during the campaign.

In the month before the campaign, 323 pieces of chewing gum were dropped in the sampling areas in Cornmarket, Carfax, Queen Street, Bonn Square, High Street, George Street and St Aldate's. During the campaign this figure decreased to 120 pieces of chewing gum dropped.

You can see some before and during pictures below:

Outside La Croissanterie in George Street before the campaign

Outside La Croissanterie in George Street during the campaign

Outside New Look in Queen Street before the campaign

Outside New Look in Queen Street during the campaign

Page last reviewed 21 Apr 2008