Elections commission makes recycling campaign issue

As elections for the Undergraduate Student Government officers take place today, students will be inundated with hand bills and campaign signs hung over almost every bulletin board on campus.

To combat the potential environmental problem of hanging up and handing out a large number of paper products, the USG Elections Commission has, for the first time, limited the amount of paper that candidates can use.

"They can use 748,000 square inches of paper which amounts to about 8,000 sheets," said Todd Waltman, candidacy and campaigning commissioner of the commission. "This year was the first time we had an actual limit on the amount of paper."

Electronic methods of campaigning, such as setting up World Wide Websites, were also used during the election to cut down on the amount of paper used and the cost of that paper.

• Wesley Bowser said his campaign was trying to use items other than paper to spread the word about its platform.

  "We are going to try to hand out ribbons tomorrow, not just the hand bills," he said, "but because of the cost we only have a limited number."
  
  

• Jason Covener said he was concerned about the amount of paper used by the candidates, but does not think the campaigns are the main source of wasted paper on campus.

  "It is a lot of paper," he said. "But it's really not that much in the grand scheme of things."
  
  

• Jaime Desmond said her campaign was doing its own recycling by taking down their fliers on Sunday when the bulletin boards are routinely cleared and re-posting the same signs on Monday so that they are not thrown out.

  "That's the true definition of recycling," she said. "Where you are able to save and reuse what has already been printed."
  
  

• Thane Fake said he thought the financial constraints of the campaign force the candidates to worry about cost instead of using recycled or reused paper products.

  "It's tough when you deal with the spending limits," he said, "but there are ways around using paper to make your campaign noticed."
  
  

  Fake said his campaign has used buttons, yard signs and a website to promote its platform and gain name recognition.
  

• Michael Landsberg said he has relied on other means of campaigning to make his ticket noticed. He has only posted 750 signs around the campus, he said.

  "We are getting our recognition through other means," Landsberg said.
  
  

• Darin Loccarini said his campaign has been using mostly handbills that he thinks are much more informative and less wasteful.

  "We have found that the best thing to do is to use handbills and not hang up too many signs that get covered up and torn down when they are hung up," he said.
  
  

• David Lubkemann said he thought limiting the amount of paper wasted during the campaign was an important issue. He said his campaign has tried to cut down on the amount of paper they have used.

  "We are trying to conserve as best we can," Lubkemann said.
  
  

• Blaine Rummel said he has tried to cut down on the amount of paper by taking similar steps to the Desmond campaign approach. His campaign is reusing already-made signs and promoting his website.

  "We have taken down our signs when we know the bulletin boards will be cleared and re-posted them later," he said.
  
  

• Hank Saur said he has been promoting environmental consciousness for the entire campaigning period by reusing paper.

  "We scoured the computer labs for the yellow paper," he said, "and we printed on the other side."
  

  In addition, Saur said he would like to have recycling bins at the polling sites to recycle the handbills given out on election day.