Political Sign Recycling Program in San Marcos Successful

01/28/2009

By: Sustainable San Marcos
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The San Marcos political landscape is a lot cleaner this year, thanks in part to a new sign recycling program sponsored by Sustainable San Marcos and Green Guy Recycling. Because the plastic used in political signs is not usually accepted at recycling centers, candidates’ only option before this year was the landfill. This spurred Sustainable San Marcos board member Tom Wassenich to locate a source that would accept the plastic; Daniela De Jongh, chair of the Sustainable San Marcos recycling committee directed the recycling effort that started in earnest the day after the Nov. 4th elections.

Green Guy served as the drop off location for candidates and residents. “The program was planned for 10 days, but as residents learned about it we received signs for over a month,” said Kyle Hahn of Green Guy.

The plastic was bailed and taken to Cycled Plastics in Austin for recycling. In total 1839 lbs. of plastic were diverted from the landfill, 1339 lbs. over what a similar program in Austin recycled. The total amount represents roughly 360 small yard signs and 520 highway signs. In addition, organizations and individuals have found creative uses for the weather-resistant plastic and many signs will be reused by candidates in future campaigns. Other materials collected such as cardboard, wood stakes, metal wires and screws were all reused or recycled.

“We were impressed by the number of candidates that took time to recycle their campaign materials” said Betsy Robertson, chair of Sustainable San Marcos, “and we hope to see an even greater response in future campaigns”. Sustainable San Marcos is a local non-profit organization focused on promoting sustainability and green policies in the San Marcos, Texas area. Our mission is to provide useful information to help the San Marcos community live in a more efficient and thoughtful manner in their homes or places of business, and offer ways to help us move our community towards sustainability.

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