Chewing Gum

A previous post on NHS dentists mentioned one of the hazards of the American practice of chewing gum: crushed molars! Funny, gum is sold here in Britain, but you never see anyone chewing it. Those with wads in their mouths (see how my perspective has changed?) are invariably Americans. But with the visible absence of chewing, the spots on the pavement (sidewalk, remember) caused by gum disposal become a mystery. I have never seen anyone spitting out gum. How do the spots get there? Secret nighttime squads of gum chewers? In any case, they do result in massive squads of pavement cleaners out there with their special spray guns cleaning up Oxford Street (the main shopping venue). Here are some facts as reported by the BBC:

The disgusting pavements of London – unless
you think the street is strewn with silver dollars!

"London's Gum Facts:
• The cost of cleaning up London's streets from chewing gum is estimated as being as much as £10 million every year
• Chewing gum takes up to five years to degrade
• The cost of removing each bit of chewing gum is between 50p and £2
• Deep cleaning the entire length of Oxford Street to remove chewing gum takes three months and over 300,000 individual pieces are removed"

If you want to read more about pavement cleaning before the Olympics – click on the BBC permalink. We rather prefer the solution offered in Coyoacan, Mexico City (below) but doubt the tree can accommodate all that's necessary! A gum-tree!!