South West Operative ML Revives the Rubber Band Issue!

Of late, news on the red rubber band situation has been overshadowed by the blight of dog fouling. we are, therefore, grateful to South West Operative 'ML' for bringing the views of Fiona Shenton to our attention. 

 

Fiona lives at Shortlanesend, where, it appears, the issue of buff rubber bands has exploded onto the scene. Fiona's letter to the Western Morning News (below) speaks for itself.

 

If you have ever been to Shortlanesend, you will understand that not much happens there. There is the odd, aggressive daffodil but that is easily managed. It is, therefore, quite revolutionary for Fiona to suggest that the offending items are returned through pillar boxes. This is the kind of forward thinking so lacking in Cornwall!

 

Fiona, we are with you! Fill those pillar boxes!

Rubber Bands Rear Their Heads Again!!!

At long last we see the return of the red rubber band, for which we thank likes.com!

 

Here at Dog Fouling and Red Rubber Bands HQ we are always looking for new uses for rubber bands. In fact, we welcome anything that removes this disgusting, elasticated menace from our streets.

 

Therefore, we thank the gentleman pictured below:

 

 

Remember children, don't try this unless you have an adult present!

The power of the red rubber band.

Peter is absolutely obsessed with dog fouling - in fact any form of animal waste products if his last few posts are anything to go by!

He is a dear friend, but even I feel he is beginning to lose it. So, in order to rebalance the blog, I have included a post on my favourite topic - Red Rubber Bands. But this time I don't want to complain about Postman Pat dropping them or ask you to collect them - all I want to do is remind you of the hidden power a red rubber band has, especially when it gets together with its other dangerous little red elasticated friends!

Slow Mo Guys

The Slow Mo Guys have done all the hard work for me. They took a water melon and then spent 20 minutes wrapping red rubber bands around it until it exploded. 

But the best part is that they filmed everything so they could watch it back at slow motion so we can all appreciate the power of the red rubber band.

I don't think Biffo the Bear or the lady from the Japanese game show knew just how close they came to exploding their own heads on live TV !!

Do not underestimate the power of the dark side of the band :-)

A Teenager Battles The Red Rubber Band Menace!

This report had slipped through the net but better late than never!

Hats off to teenager Georgia Carter, who has taken the fight to the streets of Watford. Georgia went out and picked up a load of red rubber bands only to find more in their place in the following days. Concerned for the effect the discarded bands have on the environment, Georgia has decided to research the topic in school for her citizenship studies and raise awareness of the issue - in a bid to combat the problem.

Not content with her own efforts, she has brought her 5 year old sister into the battle: “During the weekend, I went out for a walk with my five-year-old sister and came across 57 rubber bands strewn across the pavement, some in heaps of five and more". This is enough to scar a teenager for life. I thought we had it tough in the seventies but having to cope with red rubber bands on the pavement is just a step too far!

The comments following the article include a lot of support and an observation from a disgruntled former employee.

Just as it looked like the topic had gone cold, we see a resurgence of interest!

Article here.

While on the topic, if you think we're obsessed here, have a look at this gallery of red rubber band pictures. If these people were Premiership, we would be in the Conference League! Pictures here.

The battle is still on!

Dog Poop Insurance

You have to hand it to the Japanese. They can see entertainment and business in every aspect of life - including dog fouling AND red rubber bands.

Remember the trussed up contestant from Japan's Got Talent ?

Or their wonderful version of Russian Roulette using only dog shit, a foot and a shoe ?

And who could ever forget a visit to the Himeji Poop Museum ?

A brilliant people with a talent for spotting opportunity, and they have done it again!!!

Stepping in dog poop is part of life. Its not a nice part of life, but it happens and we have to get on with it.

But the folks at Sneaker Freaker know all too well about dog poop, particularly when you get it on your sneakers (US) or trainers (UK). So to appease the masses, they are considering introducing dog poop insurance. 

After you have paid a one off payment, you are covered. If you step in dog poop in your trainers and it covers 5 square centimetres of the sole, then you will be provided with the money to buy a new pair. Simple!!

I know you are all as keen as me to sign up right now - but there is a catch. They need 100,000 people to vote for the idea before they will consider it financially viable and make the insurance product available to the general public.

So my plea to you is watch the sales video and then submit your vote here and make this insurance product available to dog shit sufferers world wide. :-)

Red Rubber Bands - They Haven't Gone Away!

This site has campaigned long and hard to eliminate littering with red rubber bands -the true and insidious crime, which haunts our society. So far, however, it is clear our efforts have gone unrewarded. That said, there is a glimmer of hope as society fights back.

The Telegraph has kept the fires of the campaign burning reporting that "Royal Mail has spent £5 million in the past five years on the red rubber bands that often litter Britain's pavements". According to the Telegraph, Royal mail spends £2,840 per day on these elasticated embodiments of evil! See their report here.

Now, enter brothers Thomas and Jack Dillon and all their little friends.



The Mail sums it up as follows: "A New children’s craze is saving Britain’s pavements from the blight of rubber bands discarded by careless postmen.Youngsters have taken to stretching the discarded red bands around their scooter T-bars – to the delight of anti-litter campaigners, who say they are a danger to wildlife".

This could be seen as an opportunity for children to learn about keeping the environment clean as well as some healthy competition re who collects the most.

As usual, however, I can see a negative. As the article reports; "Television presenter Kirstie Allsopp, 39, whose children do the school run on their scooters, said: ‘The journey to school takes 20 minutes longer than it should, thanks to the endless search for red rubber bands". Not only is the environment affected but now there is a knock on effect as regards the education system.

Is it any wonder some young people become anti-social?

Recently, for a joke, I gathered up about 200 red rubber bands and put them through my neighbour's letter box for no good reason. Why aren't the authorities protecting people against that kind of behaviour?

Article here.

More Than Just A Mother

Although this post is a little old, I feel that we should acknowledge it.

Emily Carlisle runs what she refers to as an "extreme parenting blog". A fellow blogger has hit upon one of our pet subjects.

She gives an account of how she attempted to complain about red rubber bands at what I assume to be a sorting office.

My fellow blogger and I have experience of dealing with aggrieved members of the public.

If only we had been on the same training course as the fellow referred to by Emily.

Read all about it here.

Freedom of Information - It Won't Go Away!

Many of our readers will remember our hero, Paul Burns, who spent part of his New Year's Eve making a Freedom of Information (FOI) request of Royal Mail regarding the number of red rubber bands used over the previous year.

It would be easy to regard such a hero as simply a lone voice, emanating from a person with nothing better to do on New Year's Eve. Not at all! Paul is no lone voice! For a start, we have joined him but, even better, a Darrell Herd has entered the fray.

Darrell points out that: "Housing growth will see a need for more elastic bands". I have read Darrell's entire post and cannot work out if he is simply a dispassionate observer stating what he sees as being fact or if he is trying to make a point for or against the use of red rubber bands.

Either way, he has stepped into the arena and that's good enough for us!

View Darrell's full contribution here.

Red Rubber Band Litter Costing Royal Mail £2,840 a Day

The Daily Telegraph has, once again, championed a cause of great importance. Thank goodness the Telegraph is there to advise us that Royal Mail has spent £5 million in the past five years on the red rubber bands that often litter Britain's pavements.

They clearly see the world as we do for they comment: Research by the organisation (Keep Britain Tidy) discovered that the items were found on eight per cent of streets surveyed – more than the number affected by dog mess.

Royal Mail is not, however, prepared to capitulate. A spokesman said: “Royal Mail uses biodegradable rubber bands because they are necessary when it comes to the effective sorting and delivery of the mail.

With all that said, the BBC reminds us that: Postal workers get through two million red rubber bands per day. Indeed: the amount the postal organisation spends on bands has increased by 40% in five years.

I am glad that this information is now in the public domain. While the Internet is awash with information about dog faeces, our streets are carpeted with red rubber bands.

I am confident that this was all kicked off by Paul Burns, who became a legend on this very blog.

I am equally confident that our readers are interested in local and world affairs. If they weren't, they wouldn't be with us on our crusade. There are revolutions taking place across the Middle East. Egypt and Tunisia have seen their presidents toppled. The vile regime in Libya is under threat, Bahrain teeters on the edge.

Closer to home, inflation rises, jobs are lost and the economy stands on the edge of collapse.

I say: "let's get after those rubber bands, nothing comes near to being that important"!

Telegraph here.

BBC here.

Re The Below Post

Paul has received a reply from the Post Office. For me, a truly interesting fact is that, last year, Royal mail spent £1,037,009 on rubber bands. This was a total order of 760,486,000. I will leave you to read the full reply.

I am, however, glad to say that Paul, who is becoming something of an icon on this blog, is not prepared to let the matter drop. Royal Mail has not stated whether or not this figure refers to red rubber bands or rubber bands in general.

Paul has replied as follows:

Dear Kate Fearn

Thank you for your reply posted today to my FOI request made on 31
December.

The reply does not make clear if the figures provided are just for
red rubber bands. If not, please supply the information requested.

In the meanwhile, let us assume that the data is specifically about
red bands.

By adding your figures for the last five financial year, it appears
a total in excess of £4.7 million was spent on c. 4,000 million red
rubber bands.

According to The Guardian on 2.11.10, Royal Mail letter volumes
stood at 68 million items posted per day. Multiplying this by 6
days and 52 weeks gives in round numbers 21,000 million letters
posted per year.

Divide this product by the number of rubber bands purchased in
2009/10, 760.5 million, and it suggests that a new rubber band is
needed for every 28th letter.

If Royal Mail broadly accepts the maths, I would like an
explanation as to why so many bands are needed.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Burns

Now I'm not sure that the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act entitles Paul to details of why a purchase was needed. My understanding is that it relates to information regarding the numbers, unless there is a specific document outlining the need. If that is the case, we could be in for a lengthy reply and counter reply.

Paul, we are with you for the long haul. Stay at it, you are an inspiration to us all!

I have further declared solidarity at whatdotheyknow.com.

Follow the progress and read Royal Mail's FOI reply here.

Red Rubber Bands and Freedom of Information

What Do They Know.Com is there to "make and explore Freedom of Information requests "

As you are probably aware, the Freedom of Information act was passed to ensure that government bodies could not keep information on us unless we have access to it. This was seen as a major step away from a "big brother" culture.

It was, therefore, only a matter of time before somebody found the time and energy to use the act to explore the issue of red rubber bands. On the last day of last year, Paul Burns stepped up to the mark. He has made the following Freedom of Information request:

Dear Royal Mail Group Limited,

I often see the red rubber bands used in postal deliveries
littering pavements and the paths leading to front doors.

It is not unusual to see more two or three lying close together.
Yesterday during a ten minute walk in my area I counted over fifty
of these bands and I have seen similar numbers in other parts of
the country.

This has been an issue since at least 2006 when The Times ran an
item on the wastefulness of the red rubber bands (26 January).

Last year (2009) BBC’s PM programme featured the issue.

Because I see no evidence that such reports and other expressions
of public concern have made any difference, I request for the last
five years available:

1) Royal Mail expenditure on red rubber bands.

2) The number of red rubber bands purchased.

3) Break down by region and or district on the quantities of red
rubber bands supplied and how these figures relate to either the
number of households or volume of mail delivered.

Royal Mail is also invited to place any information that might
demonstrate that effective measures are in place to limit this form
of litter and flagrant waste.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Burns

I truly admire the way Paul introduces the issue of quantities of red rubber bands supplied weighed against the number of households or volume of mail relevant to regions or districts. Even with our most obsessive heads on, we had not approached the matter from that angle.

Royal Mail replies as follows:

Dear Mr Burns,

Thank you for your request for information received on 31 December 2010,
which we are considering under the Freedom of Information Act. Under the
Act you should expect a reply from us to be sent by 31 January 2011, which
is twenty working days from receipt of your request.

If for any reason we are unable to provide you with a full response within
that time, we will contact you explaining the reasons for this and giving
a revised date by which we will reply.

If in the mean time you have any questions or would like to contact us
about your request, please contact us by telephone (0114) 2414215 or
alternatively email or write to us at the address below. Please be
assured that we are giving this our attention and will get back to you
shortly.

Yours sincerely,

Kate Fearn
Company Secretary's Office
Freedom of Information Case Officer
[1][Royal Mail Group request email]

Freedom of Information Unit
Royal Mail Sheffield
2nd Floor
Pond Street
Sheffield
S98 6HR

(0114) 2414215

Royal Mail is a trading name of Royal Mail Group Ltd. Registered in
England and Wales.
Registered number 4138203. Registered office at 100 Victoria Embankment,
LONDON, EC4Y 0HQ

We only have to wait to 31 January to read the reply.

Let us monitor the situation here.

Secrecy - What Next?

My friend cleaned out his son's bedroom and found the above two balls of red rubber bands hidden away. Why had his son created these items in secret? I don't know the answer but I'm sure that you all share my worry. Today, a ball of red rubber bands made in secret in a bedroom, tomorrow an improvised explosive device!

The post office delivery workers have a lot to answer for!

Rev Elizabeth - A Fellow Blogger, A Kindred Spirit

Rev Elizabeth, we thank you for your poem and your picture!

Red rubber bands move us in many directions. Yours has been to poetry! Also, we have had little contact from Ireland (North or South). It is, therefore, humbling to discover that red rubber bands abound on both sides of the water.

I hope you don't mind us making contact in this way. I will post a link to your poem so that all our readers might enjoy it.

I also hope you and Eliot are well!

Read the poem here.

Summer holidays

I'm off on my summer holidays, so I am leaving my sidekick, Peter, in sole charge of the blog. I expect to see our flags up to 100, with 50+ followers and over 9000 visitors Peter or you are sacked :-) 

The Pepe Appeal

We have been in correspondence recently with the writers of the popular blog, I Want One Of Those.

Danny, Dino and Jimbo Woot have come up with an ingenious way to rid the streets of red rubber bands whilst encouraging a spirit of competition amongst their readers & work colleagues.

They have invented a new life form - a life form called Pepe. Pepe is small and round and made up from red rubber bands collected from our streets. But Pepe can only grow if people send in red rubber bands to the boys who will "feed" them to him daily and keep him healthy.

The boys are offering random prizes to those who send in rubber bands to keep Pepe a "healthy bouncing baby ball".

Pepe and the boys are in competition with their Customer Services Team who are feeding an un-named rubber ball, which by all accounts is putting on weight quicker than Pepe.

Nobody wants to see a Customer Services Team win anything - so get behind Pepe and start sending him in some "food" now. Send whatever you can spare to:

Pepe Creative Department,
Unit C11 Parkhall Trading Estate,
40 Martell Road,
London,
SE21 8EN

Terms & conditions are here.

Now if I can just find someone who is making a dog shit ball then I would post their address on here and get you all to send them your dog shit.

Give poop the push!

Here at Dog Fouling & Red Rubbers Bands we are always on the look out for the new & innovative products that will encourage dog owners to pick up their dog's crap and make the world a nicer place to walk bare foot in.

We believe we have found such a product. A product that not only makes collecting dog faeces hastle free, but also makes use of those discarded red rubber bands whilst doing so!

Poopsta takes pooper scooping to the next level, skillfully blending red rubber bands into the dog crap collection equation.

Richard Glyn from Poopsta was keen to emphasis to us how important red rubber bands were to the success of the product, "Your blog certainly raised a smile on my face. Poopsta is the world's first one-push poop scoop and is powered by a rubber band ... the red rubber bands work just perfectly ... it must be fate!"

Invented by Richard's dad, Maurice, the Lancashire duo have become an internet sensation with Richard's YouTube Poopsta demonstration video racking up viewers all around the world.

Check out Richard's promotion video and then ask yourself this question - is that a real dog poo he leaves on his kitchen table to pick up? :-/

We wish this father & son duo of British entrepreneurs every success with their business.

Lessons From The USA

In the USA, they too are plagued by the rubber band menace.

Here in the UK we simply complain but Joel Waul of Lauderdale, Florida saw a beauty in the band, which we have missed. He embarked upon a project, which would make the most hardened postal worker shiver. He built the giant rubber band ball pictured above.

Many thanks to the Charleston Daily Mail for this report. It reminds me of what life is really all about.

As the article makes clear, he suffered injury and damage in his quest. His efforts have been rewarded by the ball being taken for display in a museum. What a man! He should be applauded by all of us and given a free life or, at very least, six years to make up for the time he has spent putting the bands together.

Read about his tremendous achievement here.

The Postal Strike

As must be obvious from the content of this blog, it is completely apolitical. Therefore, you will be fully aware that we have no view on the pending postal strike, the reasons or the arguments. In fact, quite frankly, I don't understand them anyway!

That said, we must always look for the positives in any situation. Will there be any positives from the strike? A message board user called "GJW" posts as follows:

At least if they go on strike my property will have a break from having red rubber bands thrown all over it. Littering is a criminal offence Mr Postman you tw*t.

I assume he/she believes the postman to be a "twit".

As and when the strike takes hold, I would appreciate reports regarding any effect on the proliferation of the vile blight on our society, which takes the form of red rubber bands!

At Last, The Two Topics Combine!

Dick Felton of Keep Britiain Tidy has, at last, realised that dog fouling and red rubber bands are inextricably linked in the minds of the British public.

As Dick put it: "Elastic bands may not be as visually offensive as dog dirt or half-eaten pizza, but they are most definitely litter."

Postal workers appear to be claiming that they are discarding their rubber bands because they are being forced to work too fast. To date, I have yet to see a postal worker running down my road.

I thank the Guardian for highlighting the problem here.

Talk About On Your Own Doorstep!!!

I had occasion today to attend my local sorting office to collect a parcel.

While there, I decided to conduct some undercover work regarding red rubber bands. Such covert activity is not easy, therefore the quality of the following video is not perfect but it indicates the attitude of those, who would pollute our society with this foul menace, which glows red with the anger of Satan!

The marks on the ground are a little unclear but they are red rubber bands. Click the thumbnail to share my experience!

Now it would be easy to dismiss this as simply people not caring about their workplace but it is worse. This has clearly been done to provoke members of the public. It obviously works. While the assistant was getting my parcel, I took the following picture of a sign by the counter:

Quite clearly, they are aware of the effects and have faced abuse as a result. This does not require a sign, it requires action by the governement!

How long will this attack on our civilisation last?