Re: [peterk] BLACK BANDS PRESS RELEASE
In reply to:
If saving the environment, one rubber band at a time is such a concern that it overrides your instinctive desire to not get killed, do your thing. But I am going to carry a packet of flower seeds from Home Depot, and sprinkle them at the landing areas to counteract the rubber bands and masking tape that I leave behind, until they biodegrade in the sun anyways...
Seriously, what is the fascination with black rubber bands in BASE?
I talked to a guy named Rick at Keener (the mil-spec rubberband manuf.) today and - while he was unable to say _exactly_ how long it would take for a band to degrade, he did go as far as saying approx. 2-3 years. The issue for them is that their bands need to perform to a certain standard that is contrary to biodegredation. That said, he did tell me that higher UV exposure and lower humidity will accelerate the process, so (at least at the pizza rock and others) the process is quicker in the higher altitude, arid climes. As you mentioned, you had a hard time finding bands. I have looked before and found many many bands. I don't know if you were just looking in the wrong place or if someone (or some group) had done a rubber band clean-up day. Either way, the bands are rapidly (in terms of geologic time) reduced to clay and basic organic compounds in relatively short order.
I am guessing your plan to plant flowers from Home Depot seedpacks is purely tongue-in-cheek. If not, and you did intend to do that to offset your guilty conscience, why not just go up and look around and pick up whatever bands you can find. Planting (possibly) alien seeds on public lands may not be such a good idea, from an environmental standpoint (and I don't purport to be an expert). Nice to know you care, though.
BSBD,
Gardner
P.S. On the Keener Material Safety Data Sheet for natural rubber, I got tickled by the "Cleanup Procedures"
To wit:
CLEANUP PROCEDURES:
Sweep, shovel, vacuum into container for disposal. Incinerate or landfill in accordance with all applicable environmental control regulations; not a hazardous material.
