The UK post service is pretty good, compared to some countries. In Scandinavia, it takes a lot longer to post letters as often posties are greatly delayed by snow. In Chile, some people post their letters in person (by bus) as it takes too long. This is due to being near the Amazon rainforest and Andes mountains, so posties have a lot of terrain to cover!
Ask Royal Mail to Stop Using Rubber Bands
Catriona Hall for Green Pebble
Ask Royal Mail to stop using rubber bands, at the Change petition. Add your voice. Rubber bands are dropped in their millions each year by posties (not their fault, it’s the policy to use them). But rubber bands are choking hazards. Hedgehogs get trapped in them, and ducks eat them, thinking they are worms (gulls often eat them and then regurgitate them for their chicks).
One man who found a rubber band in his cat’s litter tray wants Royal Mail fined £80 each time, for littering. We would rightly get fined if we dropped litter, so why not Royal Mail? Royal Mail uses around 2 million rubber bands each year. Like balloons, they do not biodegrade fast enough, to avoid harm to wildlife. And when they fall down storm drains and go into the sea, they harm whales, dolphins and endangered sea turtles.
Royal Mail’s response is to report a postie who drops a rubber band. This is unfair. No postie is deliberately dropping them, the onus is on Royal Mail to come up with a wildlife-friendly alternative and take responsibility. There are plenty of eco alternatives out there, that Royal Mail could use, like paper belly bands or biodegradable fabric wrap.
One hedgehog brought to a Hampshire wildlife hospital by a mother and daughter, had to be put to sleep 2 days later. After they found it stumbling around, it was found to have an elastic dropped rubber band that had been tightening around its body for all its life, gradually cutting off circulation, and causing an infection.
Switch to Greener Stamps & Envelopes
Shropshire artist Matt Sewell has his illustrations on Isle of Man stamps.
- Keep used stamps, leaving a clear 5mm border. Then donate them to animal charities. They can earn £10 per 6,000 stamps (£15 for foreign stamps). Most also accept postcards, coins, keys and jewellery.
- Stock up on some recycled envelopes, so no trees are cut down. Recycled Paper Supplies offers nice sets, for business. The Green Stationery Co sells biodegradable packaging and bubble wrap.
- Rather than staples, use this simple Taiwanese trick to bind 16 pages at a time (no stapler needed).
- Instead of paying a fortune at the Post Office or bank, why not use Currency Fair? This company has been around for 10 years and saved customers over £260 million. Just set up a free account (with verification, this is all highly regulated), then find the best rate, exchange with a local person living in the country you are visiting, then the money is transferred to their account. It’s around 8 times cheaper and quicker too.
- If you are sending internal mail or just mail going back and fro, then buy a few Lopees from Australia. These are organic cotton reusable envelopes (in all kinds of shapes and sizes) that will last for life, if you don’t lose them. To make sure letters have the best chance of arrival, always add the town and postcode in capital letters (no county needed), start the address at the left (not centre) and don’t use full stops or commas.
Alternatives to Conventional Couriers
These alternatives to conventional couriers, give food for thought. Who says you always have to hire a big company with a big van, to get things from here to there? You can use alternative couriers to support companies that cycle or even walk goods to your door, and one can even help save your pub.
- Foodstuff is already up and running across several cities. Working only with quality indie restaurants (the only chains they are interested in are bicycle chains!), this delivery company sends food to your door, powered by the legs of their two-wheeled staff!
- Pedals (London) offers same-day bicycle delivery of parcels. It’s up to 50% cheaper (legs need no petrol or road tax) and up to 50% faster than driving.
- PubHub is a service for pubs to earn £1 to collect local parcels. Residents can pick them up in the evening, and stop for a pint.
- Postmates (US) is an app where local people earn money to deliver food from local shops and restaurants, by foot or bicycle.
