Rome Declares War on Chewing Gum

The Colosseum, Rome, Italy ©jonrawlinson

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This Tuesday a few fearless volunteers teamed up with the city of Rome to de-gumify their ancient city. The clean-up is part of a larger campaign to clean off sticky chewing gum from Rome’s priceless archaeological sites and cobblestone streets.

Even with the help of the volunteers, who came from the organisation “Noi Per Roma” (“Us For Rome”) which is headed by the Mayor of Rome’s wife, Isabella Rauti, it still costs the city of Rome one euro to remove a wad of gum. And in this sticky fight, where nearly 15,000 sticks of chewed up gum are discarded on the street every day, the clean-up crews are fighting an uphill battle.

“Chewing-gum takes so long to disintegrate, people should think twice before leaving it on some marble or throwing it on the ground,” she [Isabella Rauti] said.

Looks like tht gum would be better off spending seven years in your stomach than decades on the seven hills of Rome.

Read more at NY Daily News.

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