= new reply since forum marked as read
It's ok
In fact, don't throw anything on the ground, put it in the proper receptacle even if you have to hold on to it for a little while until you find the proper receptacle.
I learned about the chewing gum issue only a couple years ago. Now I spread the word.
some pretty wild country and still there is trash all over the place from tourists. I figured out this problem when I first moved here, decades ago, that the "micro-garbage" kills more than just the little songbirds, it affects all wildlife from the microbial things in the soil profile to the grizzly bears. Out here you can't leave any garbage of any kind out because it attracts wildlife that often starts to expect the trash to be readily available and can get pretty ornery when it isn't around... like the bears, and when they challenge humans they end up dead. And the ravens know how to pick open nearly any container, including snowmobile and motorcycle compartments with latches and zippers. They will spill it all out for the other animals and birds and there again you have a problem and a mess.
Anyway, folks need to wake up to their bad habits and just stop it... and grow up.
We live in the foothills above Boulder, CO and have had our own experiences with bears, raccoons, deer, elk, hummingbirds, etc. We moved here about 20 years ago, and learned quickly the lessons you described: bring in the hummingbird feeder at night so the bears don't get it; don't leave trash or recycling on the deck overnight; and "bear-proof" containers...aren't.
We even had a bear smash through the flimsy door to our trash shed once. It looked like he shredded it as if it were paper. We had a huge mess to clean up, and my husband quickly bought a heavy, sturdy door with good locks. (Bears can open doors. 
)
But we have had neighbors, most of whom didn't last more than one winter in the neighborhood, who think it's "fun" to leave food out for the animals. They TRY to attract them, and even try to get pictures of them. Of course, when the bear ripped off the door of their car to get at the cookie crumbs in the baby car seat, I think that family finally learned their lesson.
I completely agree about people needing to "grow up" and "stop it". They need to realize that WE are living in THEIR (the animals) territory, and we need to be responsible and respectful of that. Thanks for the post.
That's the rule and it's posted in many conspicuous areas and I know that in some instances there is a "talk" given to some who secure permits for the back country, but they always think the rules apply to everyone else. I think that's the good ol' "murikin exceptionalism" that Rmoney talked so much about.
It's my motto too... at least some of us understand it.
The sooner they learn the longer they practice good sense!
But there are quite a few borderline nut baskets in this country.
I finally put up a "grammar board" in my classroom. Among other things is the conjugation of the verb "to be", and this sentence...
"They're going to take their basketball and shoot hoops over there."
They still get it wrong.
It's gross. Behind my house is a big fitness center. At night when I walk the dog we usually cut through their parking lot to get to a big woods with a stream as well as a lot of quiet back streets good for walking and checking out peoples' gardens, holiday decorations, etc. Right in front of the front doors to the club are two huge trash cans with ashtrays yet there's hundreds and hundreds of pieces of chewed gum and cigarette butts all over the ground all around the trash cans.
What the hell, the trashcans are RIGHT THERE! What's wrong with these people just spitting their gum and dropping their butts all around the trashcans on the ground???
Worse, Every night some asshole throws a big bag of fast food trash into the parking lot. What the hell? Even if you would have to walk over to one of the many trash cans surrounding the building why the hell don't you just leave it the damn car and throw it into the trash when you get home? My car is full of trash from me forgetting to bring it into the house and throw it away, but I'll be damned if I'm just going to throw it on the ground somewhere.
People can be such pigs. They'll even throw trash on the ground right in front of people like it's a totally acceptable thing to do. Several times I've seen someone do that and yell at them to quit being a swine and throw in the trash or leave it in their car until the can throw it away when they get home. Every one of them has grumbled about it like it's such a CHORE to not toss their trash on the ground for someone else to clean up. Like it's really going to kill them to have to walk a few damn feet to the trash can and throw it out or just take it home and throw it out there. And these gits are going to a FITNESS center! Must be the same people that drive all over the lot looking for a front row spot to park, can't find one and just leave because it's just so exhausting to have to walk a few feet to get into the FITNESS CENTER.
Litter bugs drive me nuts. And there aren't people that were raised in a barn either. Where do they learn this crap?
And spitting. UGH! Why is it that males feel the need to spit on the ground all the time? Unless you're sick and hacking up gobs of phlegm just swallow it for heaven's sake. Women can manage to swallow their own spit, why cant they? And if you just HAVE to spit then don't hack one right on the sidewalk for people to step in. GROSS. Carry tissues with you or at least spit in a bush or something. Almost ever single store I got in people have to dodge around big disgusting gooey blobs of spit RIGHT in front of the doors.
I figure if you would think it's disgusting to spit out your gum, toss your trash or spit your own saliva on floor in your house it's just as disgusting to be doing that outside and especially on private property.
And for those people that let their dogs leave a huge dump in the middle of the damn sidewalk PICK IT UP! Where ever your dog takes a dump pick it up. Just tonight I was walking my dog and nearly steps in a HUGE pile of dog crap RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SIDEWALK! And this was in the hoity toity part of the neighborhood where the houses are as big as castles and they pay people to do their lawns and gardening... yet they let their dogs leave a giant dump in the middle of the sidewalk. People around here are so lazy and so gross they just let their yard become infested with dog crap and then pay a company to come pick it all up. That's just SICK. What the hell kind of dog owner lets their dog wallow in filth and then let them all over the house, on the furniture and even in their bed when there's no way the dog could avoid trampling all over their own crap. EEEEEWWWWWWWWWW. Sure, doing poopy patrol every day isn't exactly a joy, but it's the price you pay for owning a dog, and it sure beats just leaving it there for someone to step in or infesting the yard with dozens of poop bombs.
And ANOTHER THING.... 
You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Sat May 17, 2014, 09:38 AM, and the Jury voted 3-4 to LEAVE IT.
Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Snopes calls it "a mixture of fact and fiction". In any case, if DU has now become a place where it's impermissible to post asking people not to throw gum on the sidewalk, then it's time for me to go.
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: Bad information
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Who would care enough to alert on this?
Juror #5 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: I think people should check with Snopes before sharing these sort of things......
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: It's OK, a little spammy because I have seen it a couple times, this is the first in DU.
Post the Snopes as a response.
Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.
DU 
I was 4.
