Trash the Politics!

Now is the perfect time to recycle all your political signs. Our landscape is littered with them and they are 100% recyclable! Most are made from a corrugated plastic, the same kind used to make milk jugs. When recycled, it becomes the key component in TREX wood products. The other types of signs are a plastic film placed over a heavy gauge metal wire frame. This kind of plastic is like your garbage bags, only thicker.

Usually, political campaigns will mount a reclaim effort and come around and collect them for recycling or reuse, but not always. In this situation, the homeowner is responsible for disposing of their political souvenir. Both types are easily recycled here in Douglas County. Simply take them directly to your nearest County transfer station and place them in the recycling areas with the rest of your clean plastic waste. If you are part of a clean up effort, or have a large quantity, please consider taking them directly to Sunrise Enterprises on Carnes Rd. in Green or on Mulholland St. in Roseburg.

It is important to remember that the wood posts and screws must be removed prior to recycling. Both of these elements are very useful in many other ways. If you need to get rid of your stakes and screws, consider taking them to Heartwood ReSources on Hwy 99 in Green or to Robinson’s Discount Builders on Main St. in Sutherlin. There, they will find new life in someone else’s home projects. The wire frames can also be easily recycled with your scrap metal at any of the County Transfer Stations.

So, if you spot some out of date political signs still cluttering up your neighborhood, or know where to find some from a politician who won’t be reusing them again, why not take the time to find a new life for this usually discarded material?

This material is great for other projects as well. Wherever you might have used cardboard, because of their water proof qualities, these signs may make a great alternative. Also, those metal legs are worth about a buck a piece new, so straighten them out and reuse them to make your own signs for events, like directional signs. You can tape a paper sign over the political sign and reuse it for directions to your event, meeting, or other activity. Working a run-a-thon or bike-a-thon and need a temp direction sign? Yep, you can reuse a political sign by taping paper over their message and using a large black marker to write on the paper, or the blank side if they only printed it on one side.

Don’t forget to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle to “Trash Douglas County Less”