Campaign Environmental Sustainability

I had my Council Election 2024 Campaign DL flyers and A4 posters printed on recycled paper – please recycle them after you have finished with them.

I try to be as environmentally sustainable as possible in everything I do, including circular economy principles when working with businesses if I can. This council election campaign is no exception…

Reducing my Carbon Footprint

I have worked towards having all my campaign material printed as close to home as possible to reduce my carbon footprint, but unfortunately many of the local suppliers were very busy wth other jobs, despite me contacting them in plenty of time.

Supporting Local Businesses

This is great for local business, and most were happy to recommend other quality suppliers if they could not do the job themselves. I love that businesses locally support one another.

All suppliers were within 40km of my home, and I always try to organise my tasks so they were completed on the same day and same area to reduce travel.

Distribution

I am also lucky enough to own an electric vehicle which decreases carbon emissions when traveling to meetings and events.

Letter box dropping by bicycle and foot also helped to reduce my carbon footprint.

Thank you to the over 20 people who volunteered and letter box dropped for me in an area close to where they live.

Corflute outside signage

I investigated the sustainability of large signs such as Corflutes only to discover that although they are made of a recyclable plastic, there are very few places that can do this, and only if you purchase the product from them. Added to this was that none were produced locally.

Corflute material can not go in the Council recycling bins as machines cannot tell them apart from cardboard and they contaminate the waste streams.

One company is making what they state is a biodegradable sign, but it may not weather as well, and again only available from one location that was not close by. The travel miles to have these signs transported to me was also an issue to consider, as well as cost.

So I settled on limiting the number of Corflute signs to 12 to reduce my impact on the planet.

Last election campaign I know some of my signs were recycled into wind breaks, a cubby house wall, and even a goat enclosure. (I think the goat tried to eat though it in the end!)

This year I will be gathering up my signs post election and cutting them into shapes to put on a metal Christmas tree frame in support of the Woodend traders 3442 Christmas decorations. This way they get another use. If they last I can do the same again year after year. Repurposing whilst supporting my local businesses. A win win.

There is always so much to think about when trying to be sustainable such as:

– cost

– travel distances

– energy used to produce things

– reuse/ recyclability of the end products

– supporting local business

My efforts might be considered a small gesture, but I think it is an important one.

Find out more about Circular Economy initiatives in my News section.