Pursuing a plastic-free political campaign
Treading lightly on the environment is a key value for me and my team. And we’re all about plastic-free not just in July - but all year around.
We’ve been working hard to remove some of the worst parts of running a political campaign: plastic campaign signage.
You’ll start to see my campaign posters around the area shortly. I’m proud to tell you that unlike traditional corflutes - those political signs you see everywhere with candidate’s faces around election time - mine are plastic-free.
We’re already battling the plastic war on waste and election posters are an unnecessary added pressure to our waste system and environment.
Corflutes are notorious for being terrible for the environment. The corrugated plastic signs are made from a synthetic resin called polypropylene. This material is made from non-renewable oil. Many also have a PVC sticker on their surface which makes the plastic unrecyclable.
While corflute’s sturdiness means a lot of politicians use the same signs every election, post-campaign, a lot of them presumably end up in landfill. Not everyone gets elected!
They’re tricky to recycle and If they don’t go to landfill they’re burnt in super-incinerators.
Me and my husband Luke with my biodegradable campaign poster and organic cotton campaign t-shirts!
Researching alternatives
I did a lot of research to find an alternative to plastic for my signage, which is how I found Oppboga.
Oppboga is made from 100% biodegradable paper sourced from responsibly farmed forests. It’s water-resistant and designed to last outdoors for about 12 weeks - around the amount of time it takes to run an election campaign! Oppboga also already contains approximately 60% recycled material.
Could this become mainstream?
Unfortunately, there isn’t a big market for these types of plastic replacements at the moment. I think by making people more aware of it demand could grow.
Local councils also often use corflutes for their signage for projects. And there’s a lot of wastage. As your elected councillor, I’d push council to look at sustainable alternatives to this and other products they source.
As conscious consumers, our choices make a difference. By choosing this material for my campaign, I’m putting my values into action.
You can get in touch if you want to know more about where I got them from!
Got some old corflutes? Check out this article for some ideas on how you can repurpose them!
We walk the talk with our values...we’re not just hot air or greenwashing!
Here are some other things that we’re proud of about our Lane Cove Council campaign:
Printing locally
We’re making sure that our printed campaign material is printed locally to reduce transport emissions.
Our campaign t-shirts are made in NSW from organic cotton
We got these produced by Organic Tees. They use water-based inks free from solvents, toxic chemicals, CFCs, HCFCs, and other nasties. Organic cotton isn’t perfect but it uses 91 percent less water than regular cotton and it produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
Reducing wastage
We’re careful to make sure we only produce as much as we need.
Do you live in: Central Lane Cove, Riverview or Longueville? Can you put a ‘Bridget Kennedy for Lane Cove’ sign-up in these last weeks before election day? Get in touch if you can help!
