3 ways to dispose of campaign signs that are better than throwing them out

By Maura Hohman | 11/11/20 | Today

With most of the country's presidential and congressional election votes counted, it's nearly time to pull out the campaign signs that have decorated yards for the past several months. But what should you do with them?

Some 90% of campaign signs are made from corrugated cardboard coated in plastic, estimated Judith Enck, founder of Beyond Plastics in Bennington, Vermont, an organization trying to end single-use plastic pollution. And that makes them challenging to dispose of in an environmentally friendly way.

For example, throw out your plastic campaign sign, and it'll end up in either a landfill, where it'll be "very slow" to biodegrade, or a waste incinerator, which releases "toxic emissions and greenhouse gases" when burning plastic, Enck told TODAY. Landfills, too, produce greenhouse gases, mostly methane and carbon dioxide, which contribute to climate change by trapping heat in the atmosphere, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

If you want to dispose of your campaign signs in a way that doesn't hurt the environment, then consider these other options first. Read more >>