The story…

Turning chewing gum into useful objects

Learn language related to…

Recycling

Need-to-know language

litter – rubbish

versatile – able to be used in different ways

to hammer home – to make certain something is understood

new lease of life – extend the period something can be used for

eye-catching – attracting attention

Answer this…

What is most chewing gum made of?

Transcript

Chewing gum is the second most common litter on the streets after cigarettes. 

Councils spend millions each year cleaning it up. But one designer based at the Design Museum in London has a plan to deal with the problem. It all began with an experiment taking random samples of street litter.

Anna Bullus, Designer
"I could find pretty much programmes for recycling for a lot of the litters apart from a piece of chewing gum that I picked up."

Most chewing gum on our streets is in fact made of synthetic rubber. So chewing gum is potentially a versatile and useful material for lots of manufacturing processes.

But how do you capture it before it sticks to the ground? Well, that's where the special bins come in. They are themselves, made out of recycled chewing gum.

The University of Winchester is one of several institutions that have signed up to use the bins.

A lot of the gum is turned into these reusable hot drink cups. These are given out to first-year students to hammer home the message that recycled gum can be turned into something useful - if it's not simply dropped on the floor.

In order to gain its new lease of life, the old gum is first taken to a recycling plant. Then it gets turned into the new objects.

As well as the cups and bins, these include some eye-catching designs. But the main goal is to educate and clean up the environment.

Did you get it?

What is most chewing gum made of?

The answer:

Most chewing gum is made of synthetic rubber.

Did you know?

A 5,000-year-old piece of chewing gum has been discovered by an archaeology student on a dig in western Finland. Neolithic people used the material as an antiseptic to treat gum infections, as well as a glue for repairing pots.