Public asked to stick with Highland chewing gum campaign

The Highland Council is ensuring that a chewing gum action campaign sticks in Highland minds during Olympic year with a round of key profile visits to High Streets in Inverness, Dingwall,  Alness, Fort William and Nairn.

Chairman of The Highland Council’s TEC Services Committee Councillor John Laing said: “A public awareness campaign last year on litter and gum by Council staff in partnership with the Chewing Gum Action Group saw an extremely welcome 91% reduction in the amount of gum that was dropped in Inverness City Centre. This year the campaign has an Olympic theme to its message as everyone will be winners by putting their gum and litter in the bin.

“I urge everyone to help keep our streets clean and to reduce the amount of their Council Tax we are spending needlessly each year on litter collection. “

The Highland Council is one of 15 local authorities nationwide to have pledged their support for the campaign to help make Britain’s streets free of littered gum. At the end of campaign three of the 5 Highland High Streets will be judged gold, silver and bronze to mark their local achievement in litter reduction during the campaign

The campaign is being is being funded by the Chewing Gum Action Group, a joint initiative between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the chewing gum industry and Chartered Institution of Wastes Management. The aim of CGAG is to achieve a long-term solution to the irresponsible disposal of chewing gum. The group’s sixth national campaign will run in March and April and see local authorities working with communities to encourage people to take responsibility for their litter and put their used gum in a bin.

Since 2005 the Chewing Gum Action Group has run annual campaigns which have lead to reductions in chewing gum litter of up to 91% - with the best results in the Highlands.  In 2011, the campaign successfully reduced the amount of gum litter on our streets nationally by 56%, a 6% improvement on the previous year.[1]

The 2012 campaign will see selected local authorities taking part in a new advertising campaign calling on everyone to play their part in creating a cleaner, better Britain ahead of the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee by putting their gum in a bin.

Spokesperson for the Chewing Gum Action Group, said: “2012 is a very important year for Great Britain and we are asking the public to make our streets cleaner and nicer places to enjoy by binning their chewing gum responsibly. The Chewing Gum Action Group has been running for several years and we’ve seen a reduction in the amount of littered gum on our streets in communities where we’ve campaigned. Encouraging behaviour change is the only long-term and sustainable solution to the problem of littered gum and we are totally committed tackling this issue, but we need your help too.”

For further information please contact 020 7618 9109 or at Wrigley@luther.co.uk