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Stretch out rubber band use We have had the Mail Tribune delivered to our door for several years now, and every time it has a rubber band wrapped around it. We have little use for the rubber bands and now have several containers of them. My question is this: If I try to return them to my carrier, will the carrier benefit, or will the company? Will the carrier re-use them? What if every subscriber returned them -- would it make a dent in rubber production? Would the Rubbery Industry cry "foul"? Is there any way the Mail Tribune might collect and use these? -- Karl G., Central Point Can't stretch the truth here, Karl -- the Mail Tribune uses a lot of rubber bands every year, but probably not enough to single-handedly bring down the rubber industry. Here are the facts: Carriers wrap about 3,400 pounds of rubber bands around papers each year. They buy pound bags -- about a month's supply -- from the newspaper for $1 per bag. They don't have to wrap the papers in rubber bands, but it's either that or a plastic bag or a delivery tube. The papers tend to blow apart if they're not wrapped in some way, says Mike Miller, circulation director. Some carriers, Miller says, would welcome a recycled supply of rubber bands. Others prefer to stay clear of used bands, which are more likely to -- ouch -- snap as they're put on newspapers. If you want to give back rubber bands, Miller suggests leaving them for your carrier where the carrier delivers the newspaper. Or bring them to the newspaper office. Miller says the newspaper will return them to carriers for no charge. A few recycling-minded subscribers do this already. One other option would allow you to be free of this problem forever: Subscribers can call the circulation department at 776-4455 and ask for a delivery tube for their home. That, of course, would raise questions about plastic. ... (Send your questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; or by fax to (541) 776-4376; or by e-mail to: [email protected] Please include your name, address and phone number for verification.) Today's News Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA