News April 17th, 2019

Last post sounds for Election Posters

Just a short eight weeks ago, PosterFree.ie was launched. Encouraging all candidates to go poster free, this national campaign has successfully secured over 150 poster free areas. This number equates to over 15% of 2018 Tidy Town entrants. It has become clear that the majority of our electorate would like to see poster free elections. Our environment is in want of them too. PosterFree.ie is now calling for a national voluntary ban, marking the beginning of the end for plastic election posters.

End of Election Posters?

Tidy Town committees and Local Development groups have rallied behind the campaign and have been the driving force behind this environmental campaign. These groups work year round keep our villages, towns and country clean ensuring tourists keep returning to Ireland. With tourist numbers breaking ten million last year, it is more important than ever that we recognise and support the significant voluntary work our Tidy Towns group carry out which protects and preserves our environment.

A few weeks ago, millions of school children around the globe marched, demanding immediate climate action by their representatives. In a recent Claire Byrne Live/ Amárach Research poll, 77% of respondents said that they thought the use of posters during election campaigns should be banned. Similarly, across other Facebook and Twitter polls, over 90% of respondents favoured of a poster free election. Recently the joint Oireachtas Committee on climate action published it’s report “How the State can make Ireland a Leader in tackling Climate Change, which provides a road map for Ireland’s climate mitigation plan.

Seven days from now, as the election campaigns kick off, it will be legal to erect election posters. Despite that, we are calling on all current and future representatives to take action on behalf of the striking school children, the Tidy Towns, the voters and our planet. This campaign marks the beginning of the end of plastic election posters and paves the way for a complete ban in the future.

End of Posters in Irish Electoral landscape

PosterFree.ie is a joint campaign by Séamus Maguire (Independent Donegal Councillor) and David Weitbrecht (ZeroWaste.ie) encouraging all candidates to go poster free this May in both Local and European elections. For more information visit PosterFree’s website, facebook or twitter.

Email: support@zerowaste.ie

Website: www.posterfree.ie

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/posterfree/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PosterfreeI