The Plastic Political Sign, or The Signs Catch Up To The Reality
While there have been an umpteen number of political campaign signs popping up in Seattle yards and right-of-ways the past couple of months, yesterday was the first time I actually looked down and noticed a sign. In my head the sheer number of signs out there all merge into one amorphous blob of candidates and races, so I’m never sure if I’m electing Tim Burgess to the Port Commission or voting no on Tim Eyman’s latest proposal to require a vote of the people to determine whether the Sonics can save David Della.
But, the other morning, there I was in front of a Lauren Briel campaign sign. And there was something odd about it.
It was made out of plastic.
Now, despite my environmental studies degree, I’m not some nature zealot who thinks we should make everything out of organic hemp. But plastic signs bother me. I don’t care if the sign says it’s recyclable, like this sign says it is:
The problem is that despite the laws we have requiring that these signs be cleaned up after the election is over, they’re not. And they end up, well, here:
This is construction fence near my office, and that clearly is a Maria Cantwell sign from last November’s election. Despite its windblown state, it still looks pretty good, thanks to being made out of recyclable plastic rather than biodegradable paper. In fact, I bet Maria could round up all these loose signs blowing around the city and use them in 2012 if she chose to run again.
It doesn’t matter if political signs are made out of recyclable #4 LDPE, because most of them will end up like the Cantwell sign: in the local environment, not biodegrading. Had Cantwell used a paper sign, this would be a pile of pulp. In 2012, it would probably have broken down almost completely.
Lauren Briel seems to be committed to the environment. Is she committed to finding the gobs of signs her supporters have covered the north end with and recycling them? Is she committed to cleaning up the litter she and her supporters are creating? Are any of the candidates? Is anyone committed to making sure the plastic signs and wire frames can be recycled, just as the paper signs and wood stakes have always been?
Do any of the candidates give a rip about mess they’re making?
I think the answer to all of your questions in the last paragraph is “no”.
Hi Dylan,
Thank you for your concern, and I totally agree with you. Part of the problem with purchasing recycled products - REGARDLESS of what they are made of - is that it does no good unless you then, in turn, recycle them when you are done.
We have plans and teams to collect the signs immediately on Tuesday night and Wednesday. If I make it through the primary we will then reuse them (step #2 of the “three Rs”) and then recycle them in November.
It is unfortunate that no political signs are truly environmentally friendly, but we hoped that by using recycled materials, reusing them as much as possible, and then having a recycling plan when finished we would reduce the impact of waste as much as possible. We also know they will be recycled because we are doing it ourselves.
Not only would leaving signs up after the election be extremely wasteful on the taxpayer’s money (if SDOT or other had to collect) but also, in general, pretty lame.
We wanted to go high impact - lots up, and everywhere, and then gone, and done.
Please let me know if you have any other questions
~Lauren Briel
yes@votelaurenbriel.com
Or, perhaps “yes”.
Well, cool. Thanks for making the commitment, Lauren.
Now, on to the rest of the candidates….