The war is on.

Local businesses are mounting a strong counterattack against litterbugs who choose to dispose of their Trident on Evanston’s fine brick buildings and sidewalks.

The weapon of choice: a gum-removal machine.

“You know why they wouldn’t let you chew gum in the third grade?” said Bridget Lane, executive director of Evmark. “Because it made a mess then and it continues to make a mess for the rest of your life.”

Evmark, a nonprofit marketing group for downtown Evanston, has created a program to train business owners to use non-toxic equipment that softens and removes gum with high pressure and heat.

While Evmark currently uses a contractor to remove gum from 28 downtown locations once a year, these gum-busters will be loaned to some businesses, such as fast-food restaurants, needing extra attention.

Evmark has not yet implemented the program because of poor training weather, Lane said, but business owners will be taught how to use the machines within the next few weeks.

While the program has been eagerly anticipated by many business owners and concerned residents, others said they think the dollars used in this gum war would be better spent on snow removal.

“Gum is not really a significant problem,” said Troy Thiel, president of the Evanston Small Business Association. “A bigger problem in the downtown area is when it snows and the sidewalks aren’t shoveled.”

But until the biting winter wind begins to freeze the remnants of Wrigley’s and Extra, Evmark has decided to remedy this sticky situation before the slippery one comes around.