Greens say no to plastic signs

The local Green Party candidate is refusing to use corrugated plastic signs in the upcoming election, opting instead for handmade wooden ones.
Volunteers gathered this week at Sherri Jackson’s home outside of Creemore to begin the process of stenciling signs.
After some calls to the County of Simcoe, Jackson said she received no assurances that the signs would be recycled. She and campaign manager Kendra Marr began discussing alternative options.
“We have some innovative ideas on how to promote our campaign that are in line with our sustainable philosophy. We can’t in good conscience ask people to adopt a sustainable approach, and then take thousands of signs to the landfill,” said Jackson.
Marr said there is an online debate within the environmentally focused political community about whether or not candidates should be creating plastic waste, especially when a federal ban has been announced and there is a community focus on eliminating single use plastics in Creemore and elsewhere.
They have considered using T-shirts and hand painted signs but settled on stencils as the main technique. People have been donating pieces of plywood and even cupboard doors to the effort. Marr said a lot of the wood was destined for the waste diversion program at landfill sites but will now have another use.
“We are trying to leave as little footprint as we can,” she said.
The Green Party purchased 500 signs during the last election. Taking into account the other parties, there are potentially thousands of campaign signs that are discarded after an election. Jackson is extended the challenge to other candidates in the Simcoe-Grey riding to voluntarily abandon wasteful plastic signs.
Jackson has launched an online petition at Change.org titled “Help Green Party Ban Plastic Election Signs in Simcoe-Grey.” To get involved, contact Jackson’s campaign team through social media @SJforSimcoeGrey or e-mail sjforsimcoegrey@greenparty.ca.