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Curse of the Post Office red rubber band

red post office rubber band.jpgThere are people all over the UK getting up in arms about a seemingly recent problem inflicted on us by our postmen: the dropping of red rubber bands on our pavements, garden paths and porches. In one unfortunate case, one of the bands was seen around the neck of a duck. So what's going on?

Rumours about postmen dropping the items in order to 'find their way home' have circulated, but more worryingly, some postmen have claimed off-the-record that they are advised to drop the rubber bands which they are told will 'biodegrade'; a theory we are going to conduct an experiment to test in coming weeks. We've got a genuine, Post Office issue rubber band immersed in water in our kitchen and will be monitoring its progress.

So, have you encountered this 'plague' of rubber bands? Have there been more of them recently, and what are you doing about this? You could always make a rubber band ball or collect them for future use, but that's only if they haven't already been chanced upon by a passing animal or bird.

Or do you work for the Post Office and can confirm or deny the rumour that employees are being instructed to simply discard the bands where they fall? We need to know!

Posted by AbiSilvester on April 4, 2008 in Animal welfare, Green News | Permalink

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Comments

They should leave them in the porches or post them through with the letters... then the market for rubber bands that you have to purchase will collapse. I have been collecting them for years and have more than I need.

Posted by: Nate | April 4, 2008 12:36 PM

If they dont want to think about the environmental side of their actions maybe they should look at the financial?I want to know how much money Royal mail spend on elastic bands that they simply throw away instead of re-using!?

Posted by: Carly | April 4, 2008 4:08 PM

They may degrade when exposed to UV light (sunlight); I don't think water/kitchen sink will yield the same results as being left on the pavement in the sun.

Still, it seems odd at best to just drop them on the ground and wait for them to biodegrade.

Posted by: stef | April 5, 2008 12:05 AM

I think they're great, enjoy finding them, then wear them on my wrist.

Posted by: Michael | May 6, 2008 4:31 PM

I think they're great, enjoy finding them, then wear them on my wrist.

Posted by: Michael | May 6, 2008 4:32 PM

Did it end up degrading?

Posted by: rubberband | May 10, 2008 1:38 PM

Did it end up degrading?

Posted by: rubberband | May 10, 2008 1:40 PM

Oh no...it's still as red, rubbery and un-degraded as ever. I suspect we'll be in for a long wait!

Posted by: AbiSilvester | May 12, 2008 11:40 AM

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