Waiting for the deluge of mail pieces as each election cycle proceeds towards election day….is obscene! The cost to the evironment and to the voters is ridiculous. Here in Orange County we can get upwards of hundreds of pieces of three color candidate and initiative paper. The variety of Slate Mailers, the immense Yea and Nay tirades, the endless choices of Republicans, Democrats and Independents are augmented by those independent expenditures from Firefighters, Police and Public Employee Unions.
Has anyone ever done a “Risk Assessment” to the environment that stems from political mailers alone? The time has come to quit the antique tradition of “stuffing the mail boxes of America”. This is the “Cyber Age” and deserves Cyber Solutions! Every Newspaper in the country is complaining that they are losing readership….they need to take Cyber Ads from Candidates for their websites! Right Wing, Left Wing and DTS (Decline to State) websites are dying for ways to fund those endeavors and get Candidate and Initiative money! Between those awful unsolicitated “Vote for….” phone calls before election day and our overburdened mail boxes…….the time has come to require those nonsensical endeavors to cease!
This is the time to “Green” the Political process. If we cannot set the bar higher for politicians…how can this hypocritical endeavor be sold to anyone else. All politicians should be driving fuel efficient automobiles, looking for ways to save energy and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. All politicians should be using the latest technological advances to reduce the use, transportation and dependence on paper mail. The only paper mail that should be utilized by politicians is that of a thank you letter to constituients for their opinions or support.
We cannot continue to condone the wasteful use of natural resources and the transportation thereof by our United States Postal Service, regarding Measure A, B or C. The only mail that should be used for election politics should be for those constituients that request paper mailers rather than e-mail. Each constituient should be polled to find out whether they want paper in the mail rather than an e-mail communication. Mail sent to these constituients should offer an opt in or out option. Can we imagine how much we could save our environment by going Cyber?
So, as the National election approaches…save all your paper pieces sent by politicians and interest groups. Cross out your address and write: “Return to Sender” and drop it at your local Post Office. When they get several thousand mail pieces back…..they may just get the message!
I’ve only received one or two mailers. Maybe you should look at the candidate who is mailing you and take that as a clue to how they think on “greening America.”
Another “biggy” is the massive wastes of jetting from state to state.
American election time is a huge contributor to global warming. Anderson Cooper should get with Sanjay Gupta to show the effects our little “game play” has on melting ice caps and dying rainforests.
mary
The waste of resources in campaign’s is sickening but until something else comes along thats more successful its sad to say but this antiquated way of campaigning will continue. I’d like to see someone evaluate the carbon footprint of the campaigns – it could be the new litmus test!