Have they nothing better to do?

[Gromit]

While our streets are festooned with polystyrene food trays and there is hardly a tree which is not bedecked with the ubiquitous plastic carrier bag, the Government backed Charity, Keep Britain Tidy, wants to impose on-the-spot fines of �80 on postmen who drop elastic bands (�2,500 if it goes to court).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/pol itics/lawandorder/5112104/Postmen-should-be-fi ned-for-dropping-rubber-bands-says-Keep-Britai n-Tidy.html

Is this not a little petty?

In the scheme of our litter problem, are rubber bands such a huge nuisance?

Are postmen an easier target than the drunken yob discarding his kebab over the pavement at 2am?

And why is our tax money being used to back such a mean and unless organisation as the "Keep Britain Tidy' Campaign?

[jackthehat]

Tough on litter and the causes of litter..............:o)

[Gormless]

I often wondered where they came from, they're all over the place.

I pick them up and use them, rather useful, extremely petty to prosecute.

[Octavius]

I don't get you. Would this not be part of the remit of an organisation called Keep Britain Tidy, so what else are they meant to do?

I am all for a fine for these elastic bands littering our streets, there is no need for it, postmen could simply put them in a pouch and reuse them, or use the bin at the property to dispose of them properly. Its just laziness, and laziness should not be tolerated.

[legendis.god]

Decent posties can be spotted by the red elastic bands around their wrists.

It really must be difficult for these guys on over 7 quid an hour to take an elastic band off some letters and put it on their wrist or in a pocket eh ?

Simple when you think if they brought them back then the post office wouldnt neeed to keep ordering so many?

Well im trying to see it from gromits point of view.
But really what hes saying is the postmen are being lazy, BUT, we should condone it rather than do anything about it.


So sorry in this instance the obvious course to take would seem to be to disagree with him.



�?�� did that help �?�'

[legendis.god]

Omg im in agreement with ocky !!!!

[anotheoldgit]

The complaint has been brought up before, and the Royal Mail responded by saying 'these are not just ordinary elastic bands, they are bio-degradable elastic bands'

[Gromit]

Thanks for that AOG, I didn't know that.

On further investigation Royal Mail say

The rubber bands we use are specifically designed to be more biodegradablethan the normal brown rubber bands and this is intended to lessen the environmental impact.

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/elastic_ bands

i wonder how many on-the-spot fines Keep Britain Tidy campaigners have imposed outside KFC at 1am on Saturday night?

[Octavius]

Oh thats alright then.

I suppose my mucous and spittle could also be regarded as biodegradable then?

[wolf63]

For a while our nice but dim postie was posting them through our letter box.

I didn't know this until I caught Frankie (cat) coming out of the hall with one in his mouth. I followed him and he had a nice little stash under my bed.

I mentioned it to the postie and he said that he thought I would want them!?

It is totally unnecessary for the posties to drop them and the Post Office should address the problem themselves.

[anotheoldgit]

wolf63

Stash of rubbers under the bed, no, no, no,!!! we just will not go there.

Too much information.

[vulcan]

So,the keep Britain tidy brigade want the public to collect discarded rubber bands and post to them.
will they watch through the letterbox to see what the postman does ?
i agree with gromit,how many fines are they dishing out to drunken yobs and their takeaways ?