Bi-Partisan Green Campaigning!

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 peaked 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 America 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 and very
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. Any and 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 sensitive
environment by going Cyber?

So, as the National election approaches…save all your paper
pieces sent by politicians and interest groups. Just, cross
out your address and write: “Return to Sender” and drop it at
your local Post Office. When the various bulk houses get back
several thousand mail pieces - they may just get the message!