Lawn signs go environmentally friendly
State and local candidates might be using your lawn in an effort to make their upcoming campaigns as green as possible.
U.S. Congress state candidate Jared Polis will use post-consumer product cardboard for his campaigning lawn signs.
Spokeswoman Dayna Hanfon said that Polis is aiming for a green campaign.
“We would have used biodegradable cardboard for lawn signs but it wasn’t available and it cannot withstand weather conditions,” Hanfon said.
Hanfon said the post-consumer product cardboard is a good option for the Polis campaign because there is no price difference between the eco-friendly cardboard and regular cardboard.
Local Boulder candidates are thinking along the same lines.
“Boulder County is committed to sustainability,” Jerry Roberts, Boulder County Assessor candidate, said.
“If I use lawn signs for my campaign, they will be as environmentally friendly as possible,” Roberts said. He plans to pick up his signs after the campaign and reuse them if he runs for local office again. Roberts will also print any promotional brochures or flyers on 100 percent recycled paper.
Roberts said recycled materials are used around the Boulder County Democrat office whenever possible.
Like the Alfred Packer Grill in the UMC, the office uses Eco-Products, a container distributor located here in Boulde. Eco-Products are produced out of corn, making them completely biodegradable and compostable.
Jamie Irwin, a senior molecular, cellular and developmental biology major, said that using the Internet and networks such as Facebook would be the best campaigning strategy to target college students.
“Although it’s an improvement that candidate campaigning efforts are more eco-friendly now than in the past, is it really necessary to use so many resource materials for a successful campaign?” Irwin said.
Jordan Schulze, a sophomore finance major, said he would be influenced by eco-friendly lawn signs.
“I would expect nothing less out of Boulder County candidates,” Schulze said. “Eco-friendly lawn signs seem most natural around town.”
Primary elections will take place on August 12 and Election Day is November 4. Environmentally friendly lawn signs are expected to start popping up in lawns around Boulder County this spring.
For more information, please contact Campus Press reporter Heather Koski at heather.koski@colorado.edu
