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You Can Save the World Just By Chewing Project 7 Gum

Elizabeth Dahl
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Your dentist is rarely glad you bought the impulse gum in the cashier line, but if you reached for a pack of Project 7’s gums, mints, or gummies, you could tell said-judgmental dentist your purchase actually change the world.

Tyler Merrick is an entrepreneur who’s always been socially minded, but he realized one day in 2008 that little purchases really add up. And if you put a portion of the profits of these small purchases toward important causes, big things happen.

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So in 2013 Merrick relaunched a line of uniquely flavored gums and mints made with no artificial colors, preservatives, or flavors. They’re also made here in the United States. He got creative with the flavors. Gum flavors include Birthday Cake, which tastes incredibly like birthday cake, but doesn’t require the aging; Wedding Cake, which demands no lifelong commitment in exchange; Rainbow Ice which is all the fun of a snow cone without the brain freeze; grapefruit melon; Sour Caramel Apple; Coconut Lime; even Front Porch Lemonade is like chewing summer afternoons in your mouth. In honor a century of Girl Scouts, Project 7 launched Girl Scout cookie flavored gum: You’ve got perennial favorites like Thin Mints and Samoas (though they call them Caramel Coconut). The gums are sugar free, so your dentist can’t be that mad.

Tyler-Merrick-2011 Project 7

A new edition to the delicious Project 7 line is their gummies. But these aren’t your average gummie bears. Instead, Project 7 offers Champagne Dreams gummies, flavored like brut and rosé champagnes. Or get the party pack that combines some of the most popular gum flavors: Rainbow Ice, Birthday Cake, and Front Porch Lemonade. And the gummies use only organic sweeteners.

What’s the changing the world bit of enjoying these treats? It’s all in the name. Merrick chose seven areas of need to support with proceeds from sales: Save the Earth, House the Homeless, Feed the Hungry, Quench the Thirsty, Heal the Sick, Teach Them Well, and Hope for Peace. Within each category Project 7 has partnered with leading organizations in the field. For example, to Feed the Hungry they work with Feeding America and Children’s Hunger Fund; Plant with Purpose and Trees, Water, People help them save the Earth; Samaritan’s Purse has Project 7’s help in housing the homeless, and Camfed, Love Does, and Pencils of Promise help education issues.

To date, Project 7’s delicious gummies and gums have helped plant 4 million trees, provided 3.7 million meals here in the US, allowed for 1.1 million hours of education, provided 1.3 million hours of shelter for the homeless, ensured 1.3 million months of clean water, provided 35,000 students with anti-bullying education, and given 106 thousand malaria treatments.

These thoughtfully made, uniquely flavored candies are the answer to sweet tooth cravings and a desire to better the world. That’s a delicious combination.

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