Chicza gum

As any well-heeled fashionista will know, there are few things more annoying than arriving to work only to find one shoe has been left at the door, stuck to the carpet.

How many of us have sat down in a cafe for a bite to eat to find one knee of our skinnies glued to the table less than two minutes later?

The antidote to this sticky situation could be just round the corner – well it hails from Mexico to be precise but is winging its way to a Waitrose near you any day now.

Chicza chewing gum is organic and biodegradeable and apparently has about the same sticking capacity as Blu Tack. Unlike its chemically produced companion, with the addition of a bit of rain, it can be washed away from pavements within a month – next to nothing compared to the five years it takes to remove some of the more well-chewed brands.

The UK will be the first port of call for this product created by a farmers’ co-operative in Mexico. It is 100 per cent natural, made from the bright white sap called chicle. This comes from chicozapote trees that used to form the basis of the gum sticks included in GI rations during the second world war, before the synthetic substitute kicked in by the 1950s.

I don’t believe Chicza is Fairtrade certified but does involve the fair trade ethos of creating well paid jobs in the rainforest, as well as following sustainable harvesting methods.

I’m not a massive fan of chewing gum myself, I will certainly be keeping an eye out for a product with such fresh credentials and an ethical approach that just might stick!

Stina Scene is the PR Manager for Shared-Interest.com