Roadside signs are commonplace.
They advertise services, inform people of conditions up ahead, and have become accepted as part of the natural landscape.
However, like any invasive species of fauna and flora, road signs – especially ones made using corrugated plastic material – haven’t always been present in our world.
Election signs are a perennial reminder of their existence. While a motorist may become at ease in the everyday notifications to and from their daily routine, a highly-visible and well-designed election sign appearing for a few weeks every four years can stick in the mind of a person.
If that person remembers the name on the sign on election day, it could mean the difference in deciding an electoral winner.
Ryan Barber is the chair of the Simcoe North Federal Liberal party, and recently served as campaign manager federally in 2021 and provincially earlier this spring.
“There is a funny psychology when it comes to election signs,” Barber explained. “No one ever looks at an election sign and says, ‘Wow, that’s a great looking sign, I’m voting for that person.’
“That said, if three candidates were running for something and only two of them had a bunch of signs out, you’d assume the race was between the two with signs; because in your mind you’re trying to perceive who the race is between, and you might vote for one of the candidates with more signs because subconsciously you think they have a better chance of winning.”
Whether or not the visibility of election signs, advertisements or media coverage has any impact prior to the results of an election, physical signs are the remnants that require physical attention after an election.
Coroplast is a brand name and trademark of Coroplast, LLC, and has been generally adopted for corrugated plastic signs in the way adhesive medical strips are called Band-Aids. Coroplast began as a Montreal company selling corrugated plastic in 1973, before becoming prominent across North America.
The company's website states that “in most cases, standard Coroplast sheets are 100% recyclable” with the company encouraging those products to be recycled.
According to Rob McCullough, director of solid waste management at the County of Simcoe, a limited time recycling program for signs is offered in the two weeks following elections for all levels of government, although material restrictions will apply.
“We are not able to recycle signs if they don’t have the stakes etc. removed, or if they are made of a different material like plastic bags strung over metal brackets, which we have seen more of lately,” wrote McCullough.
“Metal stakes, however, are accepted into our scrap metal program at all times for free.”
The lifetime of election signs can vary depending on their handling and the information printed on them. A candidate in a small community may only want a handful of signs for a one-time run for a position, while a long-term or prominent politician might aim for mass numbers of signs to be used over and over again.
Allistair Hair is the owner of Sun Sport Signs in Penetanguishene.
His custom signs and graphics business has dealt with those products in elections both past and present.
“If somebody is running for an election next year – say they were going up for mayor or deputy mayor or something – we can put a Band-Aid (a corrective sticker) right over so they could reuse them for another election,” said Hair, adding that old information can appear in certain lighting situations.
Election signs come in two different forms: bag types which are a soft plastic over a metal frame, and Coroplast that use an aluminum or steel step stake to mount. Costs go from cheap to expensive if multiple colours are used, as well as quantity for shipping. Hair said the step stakes cost $1.50 each from his business, and could be reused almost indefinitely.
Alternative materials than plastic have been tried before, with Barber explaining how his various campaigns made attempts toward environmentally-conscious advertising.
“We tried using a more biodegradable sign once that broke down before the next election, so we couldn’t reuse them and arguably made more waste getting more signs,” said Barber.
“I’ve tried rescreening old signs with a new candidate’s name or design, but it really doesn’t work. I saw a candidate try using a type of cardboard sign once, but they started melting when it rained so they put plastic bags over them, which kind of defeats the purpose.
“I’ve seen a candidate use plywood signs they hand painted, but they were expensive, looked rough, and would have been heavy and hard to set up. I even tried using metal for a reusable billboard once, but that didn’t really work out either,” Barber noted.
At one time, Barber had found a farmer who accepted the signs to be broken down and used as insulation for animal pens and out buildings.
Comparatively speaking, however, Coroplast signs are not as environmentally threatening as they may appear, regardless of their recyclable properties.
When asked if the County of Simcoe had explored alternative signs as options for resident candidates, McCullough replied that the Simcoe County Collects app has tips and tools for those looking toward environmentally-friendly products, but also that caution should be used with how terminology is viewed.
“We are always cautious with the term biodegradable, as this does not mean compostable,” wrote McCullough. “While there are a plethora of different products that may be labelled biodegradable that does not mean they would breakdown in the same way or timeframe as compostable products.”
Hair noted that some screen printing businesses use environmentally-friendly vegetable-based inks on materials, although whether candidates look that in-depth toward the purchase and use of those businesses was unknown.
Additionally, Barber acknowledged that the use of plastics as election signs might be a necessity in this era, but that change could happen in the future.
“I think we will definitely see an effective alternative one day, but we aren’t there quite yet,” he remarked. “People keep trying different things, and at some point we’ll see something workable.
“That said, I think we overplay the amount of plastic used in the signs versus what we use in other ways every day. We probably go through more plastic in bottles in our area in a day than we put out during an election.
“Because it’s an election sign though it becomes politicized automatically and we talk about it more than the daily waste we make. It’s symbolic, and it would be good if we could find a viable alternative to demonstrate our elected representatives are committed to phasing out plastic as much as possible.
“Until we find that alternative though you’ll keep seeing them," Barber stated. "Democracy isn’t always pretty, but it’s important, and signs are a part of that."
