These students designed a way of repurposing chewing gum to make skateboard wheels!

The plastics used to build car tires are the same plastics used to make chewing gum. From the moment we spit our gum onto the ground, it will take upwards of 50 years for that one piece to even begin decomposition. Noticing the wasted potential of chewing gum and the harmful effects it poses on the environment, design students Hugo Maupetit and Vivian Fischer decided to collect wads of discarded chewing gum out of which they molded and constructed wheels for skateboards.

After noticing that discarded chewing gum, made from synthetic rubbers, could be repurposed to construct wheels for skateboards, Maupetit and Fischer visualized a future partnership with Mentos and Vans. In the imagined collaboration, they worked together to take the gum from the streets and bring the gum back to the streets in a sustainable way. “Our initiative is supposed to clean the streets in a sustainable way. That is why we invented a system that will transform used wheels and turn them into new ones,” Maupetit and Fischer explained. “No more waste is created and the material stays in use.”

Initiating the collaboration, Maupetit and Fischer suggested that ‘gum boards’ be installed throughout their university city of Nantes, where residents could tack their finished chewing gum. As the gum boards filled up, the individual pieces would be collected, cleaned, molded together with a stabilizing agent, and stained with natural dye to form the wheels’ bases. The vibrant color of chewing gum along with its rubbery texture makes it a playful, yet tough choice for tire production.

People have been chewing on gum since the 1860s, but it was only after World War II that manufacturers began using synthetic rubbers, like polyethylene and polyvinyl acetate to make chewing gum. Plastics, like synthetic rubber, are able to be molded, pressed, and hardened into different shapes, making the building material relatively durable and easy to work with. Plus, there’s no shortage of supply– it’s everywhere.

Designers: Hugo Maupetit and Vivian Fischer

In an imagined collaboration with Vans and Mentos, Maupetit and Fischer conceived a mode of operations for their “Off The Street” gum-wheel initiative, including gum collection and tire production.

Gum boards throughout the city designate a spot for passersby to tack their gum for future collection.

Once the gum boards are filled up, they’ll be collected for future cleaning, molding, and staining.

Finally, following the mold and stain manufacturing process, wheels can be made available in stores for skateboarders to purchase.

The shoe that turns recycled chewing-gum into rubber outsoles

Instead of having bubblegum stick to the underside of your shoe, one day the sole of your shoe could be made of the very same piece of bubblegum. Gum-Tec, a recycled compound developed by sustainability company Gumdrop, will be at the heart and ‘sole’ of their new shoe, the Gumshoe… and Gum-Tec is, by composition, 20% recycled chewing gum.

Chewing gum poses an incredibly serious ecological problem because it comes made from synthetic plastics that do not biodegrade. It’s also the second most common form of roadside litter, after cigarette butts. Gumdrop plans to collect discarded gum from the streets of Amsterdam, a city where an incredible 3.3 million pounds of gum are incorrectly disposed on the sidewalks each year, clean them, and convert them into Gum-Tec, the material that forms the base of the shoe. A little over a pound of chewing gum can be used in two pairs of sneakers. “We discovered gum is made from a synthetic rubber. And by breaking down these properties, we were able to create a new type of rubber,” said Anna Bullus, managing director and designer at Gumdrop.

The sneakers are designed by Explicit Wear and Gumdrop and marketed by Iamsterdam. Available in red and pink (possibly the only fitting colors for a shoe of this nature), the shoes come with the proprietary Gum-Tec sole (featuring Amsterdam’s signature XXX logo) and a leather upper body. Just as good as any sneaker with a rubber sole, the Gumshoes help get chewing gum off our streets and give it a grave-to-cradle re-think that helps keep the dangerously non-biodegradable substance out of our eco-system. Oh, and they faintly smell of bubblegum too!

Designers: Explicit Wear, Gumdrop.

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No More Gum Probz

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If you’re an avid gum-chewer, then you’ve probably experienced at least one of the following: gum sticking to your clothes after accidentally washing/drying, soggy wet gum, stale hard gum that won’t chew, loose gum falling all over your bag. It’s a wonder we love it so much! Chewmate is here to make life a little easier by keeping your gum in an airtight container so you won’t have any of these problems. It’s effective, lightweight, and easily accessible whether it’s in your pocket or on your keychain!

Designer: Patrick Marini

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Chewing Gum Sticks Give Birth to Intricate Designs

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The following sculptures, which made out of chewing gum, are part of the Hollywoodoscopies collection, made by French artist Jeremy Laffon.

In my time, I’ve sculptures made from a wide variety of materials, but chewing gum has never been among them. This is really a pity, as chewing gum sticks have ...
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Gum Power

Poor Singapore, chewing gum is banned in that country so I suppose they may never get to experience the Chewing Gum Battery Concept! It is a simple and innovative idea where paper battery is kept charged at a solar empowered dispensing station, and can be easily used for gadgets whose battery dies out unexpectedly. I suppose it is intended for tourist places or maybe college campus, but it sure is a neat way to get instant power.

Chewing Gum Battery is a 2012 iF Design Talents entry.

Designer: Ping-Yi Lin

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(Gum Power was originally posted on Yanko Design)

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