Primary elections are over and even with run-offs happening in December, many campaign signs are still up.
The plastic placards are not only weatherproof, but nearly impossible to decompose.
14-year-old Tre Bishop, Rep. Stuart Bishop's (R-Lafayette) son, is taking political sign recycling into his own hands.
"It is our number five plastic, which has never been recycled," Tre said. "It’s recycled in a couple states in the United States, but it barely is and there’s tons of it."
Tre said it takes anywhere between 15 and 20 years for political signs to break down.
"Over the past 10 years if you calculate what’s the number of candidates and let’s say each one put out a hundred signs, that’s over two million signs in our landfill today," Tre said.
Unlike most freshmen in high school, Tre partners with KW Plastics, a recycling company in Alabama in an effort to reduce, reuse and recycle political signs for a greater cause.
Chuck Lagrange is the Strategic Officer for Parish Proud, a non-profit designed to help make Acadiana an eco-friendlier place to live.
"With the campaign season over, we have a lot of political signs out and about," Lagrange said. "And while those races are over, we are in a new race and the race is to get as many of these signs off our streets so that they don’t become litter."
Lagrange said litter can be detrimental to the environment and encourages more people to take action.
"That litter can ultimately get into our ditches, which gets into our waterways," Lagrange said.
Tre said he understands political signs are a major part of campaigning. However, he encourages supporters to reprocess them.
"Take the time to pick up their signs and let them be recycled, so then they’re not hurting the state," Tre said.
However, campaigns are ultimately responsible for picking up their signage.
Lafayette is home to an Environmental Compost Facility, located on 400 N Dugas Road.
