Further...isn't everything one chooses to do in a election campaign strategy a risk?
Here's the link to the Standard's article by Matthew Van Dongen on September 27, 2010: http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2774590, and I've pasted the text below as well.
Disappearing placards -- a sign of the times?
By MATTHEW VAN DONGEN AND JULIE GRECO
Signs, signs, everywhere a sign.
It's the unofficial chorus of every election campaign, for any level of government.
The colourful vote requests are sprouting on lawns across the city in the lead-up to the Oct. 25 municipal election.
With more than 50 ward, mayoral and regional candidates running in the Garden City, some people consider the signs an eyesore.
But are they environmentally unfriendly?
Some candidates think so, and are making a public point of campaigning sign-free.
Ted Mouradian, for example, is skipping both traditional signs and paper flyers in favour of a more Internet-based campaign. The 62-year-old regional council candidate will still go door-to- door campaigning. But if residents want to show their support, they can order a paper bag with his name on it to place in their windows. Mouradian is encouraging supporters to fill the bag with canned food and donate it to Community Care after the election.
"I've always thought ordering up 1,000 signs just to throw out later doesn't make much sense," he said. "I wanted to find a way to be different, of course, but also to give back to the community."
St. George's candidate Laura Ip has also abandoned campaign signs to focus heavily on Twitter, Facebook and her campaign blog.
She explained her move in a recent blog posting, arguing traditional signs are visual pollution -- and may end up in the actual trash, too.
"With all of the tools of technology that we have at our disposal ... I don't think it's necessary to litter our landscape and environment with signs of varying sizes that can also become a distraction to motorists," Ip said.
Eco-friendly or not, going signless is a bit of a political gamble, said Brock University political science professor David Siegel.
"We are in transition to a digital era ... but five or 10 years down the road, it might make more sense," he said. "Many people, unfortunately, don't care enough to vote in municipal elections, so asking them to Google or otherwise seek out their candidates online may not be particularly successful ... The name recognition associated with (signs) probably has quite an impact."
Election signs don't have to end up as garbage, either.
Many plastic election signs are recyclable, said Catherine Habermebl, associate waste director at Niagara Region.
Corrugated polypropylene signs dropped off at regional recycling depots, for example, are sold to recyclers of mixed plastics, she said. Some types of plastic-bag signs can also be tied up with regular plastic shopping bags and dropped in your grey bin (phone the Region's waste info hotline at 905-356-4141 to check on your material).
"We've seen more candidates dropping off those signs in the last couple of elections, which is great, " Habermebl said. "I think there are more people out there interested in having them recycled. Maybe a few elections back, we wouldn't have seen that."
Not all election signs are created equal, however.
Waxed boxboard signs are cheaper to buy, but not recyclable, Habermebl said.
Of course, if you're a successful councillor -- or an eternally optimistic candidate -- you can always recycle your candidacy in the next election.
That's St. Andrew's candidate Sean Polden's plan, successful or no.
"The type of signs I'll be using are made from partially or fully recycled plastic and I fully hope to save them to reuse again in the next election," he said.
-- Matthew Van Dongen
LawnBagSigns.com produce yard signs enter website
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