Success for Elastic Band Amnesty
15 April 2009
Over 1,000 elastic bands have been sent to Keep Britain Tidy in just one week!
Residents nationwide have reacted quickly to our requests to collect red rubber bands dropped by postal workers.
We want to put pressure on Royal Mail to stop the drop.
The litter caused by the bands has prompted a strong reaction nationwide and we've recieved dozens of emails and letters of support.
Mark Murphy from Heywood wrote: "Thank you for raising the issue of red rubber bands it is something I have noticed recently on the avenue where I live and wanted to do something about.
"Now I know it has been raised at a higher level I feel more confident that I can play a small part in, hopefully a bigger change."
Angela Azzopardi from Wokingham, wrote: "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for highlighting this problem - it drives me absolutely mad as they are literally all over the place on the school run."
Virginia Carlyon from Tonbridge, wrote: "I am so pleased to see Keep Britain Tidy is taking action over post office rubber bands. I have on more than one occasion collected bands and returned them to my local post office depot with a letter of complaint. Good luck with the campaign!"
People who drop litter can face fines from £80 up to £2,500 if the case goes to court. Keep Britain Tidy wants to remind postal workers that they are not above the law.
Dickie Felton, from Keep Britain Tidy, said: "Dropping red rubber bands may not be the worst littering offence in the world but none the less it is litter and they can cause harm to pets and wildlife if swallowed.
"We are really pleased that so many people have got in touch with us and feel the same way about rubber bands."
Residents will have until the end of April to send in their discarded bands, before we return them to Royal Mail.
The initiative forms part of the Big Tidy Up campaign which is seeing thousands of litter picks nationwide.
The 2009 Big Tidy Up is aiming to build on last year's success when it established itself as the country's biggest ever litter pick.
Since its launch in September 2008 more than 12,000 groups have registered and collected almost 24,000 bags of rubbish.
To get involved and register your clean-up event go to www.thebigtidyup.org. Your group will be sent a free kit to get you started.