What Next?

[vidcc]

I am a great believer in making those that pollute/litter responsible for cleaning up their mess. If the money goes directly to cleaning up gum from inconsiderate idiots then I say fair game. This includes funds for awareness advertising and policing. I do however wonder if some may think that they have the right to spit the gum on the pavement because they pay the tax for cleaning it up.... I bet quite a few of us know at least one person like that.

[lynx]

If it costs about £150M per year to clean up, that's about £4 per adult.

When you consider that only about 10% of the population regularly chew gum (and that figure is probably way on the high side) that works out at £40 per gum chewer. I bet they would be a little more considerate if they were asked to pay that amount.

There was talk of some sort of tax for shopping bags if I remember correctly.

I may be wrong, but I believe that supermarkets in France charge for shopping bags. I don't know if this is a tax or simply a way of reducing costs while showing themselves to be socially responsible.

[Virtualbody1234]

Put the tax on the gum at the sale point. At least the people who don't chew gum won't have to pay.

I think the best solution is to catch the offenders and make them pay a fine and spend some of their time cleaning.

[manker]

Originally Posted by Withcheese
There was talk of some sort of tax for shopping bags if I remember correctly.

I may be wrong, but I believe that supermarkets in France charge for shopping bags. I don't know if this is a tax or simply a way of reducing costs while showing themselves to be socially responsible.

I do believe that Kwiksave still charge for bags - 3p for the good ones and 1p for the ones that break - this seems like a good incentive for recycling but not a form of taxation, as such.

Another incentive I remember was that Sainsburys gave a penny discount for each shopping bag that you re-used the next time you visited their store. It seems like Sainsburys had purer intentions than Kwiksave, but then their produce is usually three times as expensive.


To the topic - I think a chewing gum tax is an excellent idea. Provided it was actually used to get the stuff off our streets and not merely pooled with other tax revenues. Everose asked how the actual cost in removing all the gum could be ascertained. I wouldn't knolw the answer but I suspect it would be fairly expensive to do on a large scale and to incorporate this into the price for chewing gum may prove unrealistic.

I remember having to clean it off school desks as a punishment in school, it's practically impossible

[Cheese]

They should breed pigeons and seagulls that can eat and digest chewing gum. Finally a use for these flying vermin.

[Everose]

That is being creative, WithCheese!

Vidcc had a point where he stated that there will always be the attitude that 'I pay for street maintenance, so why not?' I hear this attitude a lot but don't like the personal responsiblity it takes out of things.

I guess I am left wondering... what next? If we have a problem with facial tissue on the streets......do we penalize those who use it and toss it versus those that don't? Tax on tissues?

Will this be a nationwide tax? What if there are areas of totally responsible
gum chewers? Not a spot of gum on their streets. Do these people pay the extra price for chewing gum, also?

[Cheese]

Will this be a nationwide tax? What if there are areas of totally responsible
gum chewers? Not a spot of gum on their streets. Do these people pay the extra price for chewing gum, also?

They will be reimburshed upon providing the local council with receipts for each packet of gum bought.

The argument "I pay for street maintenance, so why not?" can be some what negated by on-spot fines for littering. Tell the council they can keep some of the proceeds for other spendings and they'll horde the streets with 'Litter Monitors'...

[Snee]

If it costs about £150M per year to clean up, that's about £4 per adult.

When you consider that only about 10% of the population regularly chew gum (and that figure is probably way on the high side) that works out at £40 per gum chewer. I bet they would be a little more considerate if they were asked to pay that amount.

I may be wrong, but I believe that supermarkets in France charge for shopping bags. I don't know if this is a tax or simply a way of reducing costs while showing themselves to be socially responsible.

They've charged us for shopping bags in supermarkets and similar for as long as I can remember.

How are they cleaning the gum up?
It'd be really cool if they went around spraying liquid nitrogen on every stray piece of gum and then bashed it, or something.

I like the idea of a chewing gum tax, mostly because I hardly ever buy any myself.

[Busyman]

Gum Tax


DADGUMMIT!!!!! Why must it be America's fault that you have gum on your streets?

Is the gum getting to be this big of a problem for maintenance? How do they figure the exact cost of cleaning up gum in streets?

Where does "America's fault" come in?

[Cheese]

Where does "America's fault" come in?

If you read the article it claims that Americans invented gum as we know it and brought it over with them during WWII.

The original gum-chewers were the ancient Mayans (also the first tobacco smokers), but it took an American, one Thomas Adams, to massmarket chicle, the sap from the sapota tree, in the 19th century and make a mint out of it. And it was American GIs who first got the British hooked on the product when they invaded Europe in the second world war. Ever since, the commercial imperatives of the gum peddlers have prevailed over the rights to silence and smooth progress of the pedestrian Briton.