New Street transformed by action against chewing gum litter.
One of the busiest streets in Birmingham has been transformed like never before, as part of a campaign launched by Retail Birmingham BID to reduce gum litter in the local area.
Partnering with The Chewing Gum Action Group, an organisation chaired by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and funded by the chewing gum industry to tackle gum litter in the UK, an area of pavement on New Street near Union Passage was transformed with brightly-coloured circles to highlight the significant amount of gum that is dropped.
Representatives from the Retail Birmingham BID Clean Team took to New Street to circle every single piece of discarded gum in an area near Union Passage, using water soluble fluorescent chalk, and witnessed the public reaction to the eye-catching measle-like patterns created across one of the busiest streets in Birmingham. During the month of October, representatives will work together to remove the gum, making the streets cleaner and more attractive.
Supporting the campaign this year, Jonathan Cheetham, Chair of Retail Birmingham BID, said: “We want the people of Birmingham to feel immensely proud of where they live which is why we have partnered with the Chewing Gum Action Group this year to raise awareness and proactively tackle the issue of gum litter.
“Year on year, chewing gum litter is costly and difficult to remove, therefore we hope that this campaign will encourage gum chewers to bin their gum the right way and understand that they can play a part in making the city a more attractive place to live.”
Now in its 10th year, the annual campaign sees representatives from the chewing gum industry, government and environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy working with councils and Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) across the whole of the UK to develop local initiatives to reduce chewing gum litter.
CGAG campaign co-ordinator Kristian Bentham added: “Every year for the past 10 years, the Chewing Gum Action Group campaign has delivered some positive results. Through our creative campaign this year, we wanted to highlight that dropping gum is still littering and one that greatly affects the local area.
“We have no doubt this year’s visual campaign will raise further awareness and have a lasting impact on residents and shoppers. We are delighted to be working with the Retail Birmingham BID this year to help them create a cleaner place to live and work.”
Nine BIDs and local authorities from across the UK are taking part in this year’s campaign. For more information, visit www.chewinggumactiongroup.org.uk