what do you do with all those election leaflets?

For those who aren't in the UK, I had better explain that, on May 6th, we not only vote for our national Parliamentary candidate (and on the result of that hangs the decision on who will rule Britain for the next four years and who will be our spokesman to the World - our Prime Minister) but we also vote for our local candidates - the people who represent us at a local level and decide policies on things like housing taxes, local education and amenities, planning applications whether our streets are cleaned and repaired and how much local policing we deserve ... who decides and what is decided is actually MUCH more complicated than that! I just got one today from a certain party (this was for the Local election rather than the National one). The message was NOT 'what we can do for you that the others won't' (well it did try to go into that later on). The leading, attention-grabbing message was: 'The other (3) candidates cannot possibly win' ... there was a bar graph with a big yellow column, a rather smaller red column and a very much smaller blue column with a line of green on the top ... then it said 'A vote for the Conservatives or Greens is a vote for Labour'. I had to blink and think about that for a minute before I could understand the flawed logic (and how behind the times the people who wrote that must be, because, in the National Elections, Nick Clegg - the Liberal leader - is looking pretty good at the moment and that is going to reflect in the Local as well as the National elections). Frankly, I don't want to know just that if I vote for someone else, it will count AGAINST someone. I want to know what this candidate is going to do for me and the community I live in. If a glossy piece of paper (which, incidentally, might be poisonous to my rats if they chew on it) wants to attract my vote, they need to cut to the chase ... what YOU can do for ME (and the things I care about) that the other guys can't. Yes, it goes straight in the shredder. So much for party expenditure. What did that cost you? 5p (10 cents) RIGHT down the drain! I was going to vote for you but I very well might not, now!

I wonder if crayfish like to shred paper... I stick all that stuff in the recycling unless I need it to pad something (like inside a package)...

Thankfully when a group of candidates came to make their house to house rounds and showering of leaflets in my neighborhood, it was garbage collection day. I of course accepted the leaflets, even if I was annoyed because I was doing something in the garden. So all of those leaflets went straight to the trash which the garbage truck promptly picked up about two hours later.

If it can be crumpled it makes for hours of entertainment for my cats. Paper punch the crap out of it and use it for confetti.

We have elections coming up too. So far, I've only gotten emails from the candidates. I delete them. If I should start getting leaflets, I'll shred them for recycling.

hi! for me if i have that leaflets..if it's not already used and not of much advantage, what i am going to do was that work with my being resourcefulness and think of something creativity. like making a flower baseline the paint it..or make it as a scratch paper in the office and put ribbon on the side so that it will look professional and attractive.

Compost, fire starter, line bird cage, use for packing material, paper mache (make a pinata!), wrap fish in it, if it isnt glossy, wash widows.

If you wanted to you could go round and collect everyone's scrap paper and shred it and bag it and sell it as mulch.

Rat bedding is perfect! LOL It's always struck me as odd, when candidates run on environmental issues, and pass out so many leaflets. They are also good for putting at the bottom of the trash, so that if anything leaks, there is something to absorb it. It might make statements if everyone dropped them off at election headquarters in your area. Shredded, might be good at mulch in the garden too, although not for food crops. You never know what is in the ink, or coatings on the paper.

I mark them "Return to Sender", or make paper airplanes for the neighborhood kids, or save a massive stack of them, put them in the priority mail box (it's worth the cost)and deliver them back to the candidate. Sometimes, I save a huge stack, use the priority mail box and send them to the candidate's opponent. (naughty sense of humor).

well I bin it or re-cyvle it, Though really does annoy me how much money have they spent on bits of junk mail that most people I would guess just bin. Could be a lot better spent me thinks, plus they never have all there manifesto on the flyers its basically vote for me and that's all.

I generally make airplanes out of it. Or else throw it away.

Well, we've only gotten past the midterm elections a few weeks ago and I'm still finding all of the leaflets from the election laying about our house. Well, it has also just now gotten cold outside for the winter season and I've found a great use for them. We are using them for kindling for our fireplace. We've had great fires during the past weekend and we've got a nice, hot one going right now. I don't know if it would be possible without the junk mail.

Just dispose it properly, you can also make money out from... just collect it and due time you can sell it to the junk shop......

We have a paper shredder, and recycle the shreds as stuffing for fragile packages. If we really don't like the candidate we will burn the lieflet.

I do something useful with it and throw it into the recycle bag along with all the other junk that gets pushed through my letterbox.

We usually just use it as scratch paper, but them into small pieces for notes and other stuff. It's really amazing how these candidates give so much which obviously costs so much and I'm really wondering where they're going to get the funds once they're elected. Whew!

I collect it then after reading I will use it in wrapping something. Reuse in different stuffs to do. Or nothing to burn then I will use some. If it is a tarpaulin I will keep it and use to cover things at home o make it a hat to protect the heat of the sun outside the house.Many things we can do for that.

If they made the flyers out of some softer paper, then they would be ideal for recycling as toilet paper. When I get these flyers I do the same as you which is shred the paper. We re-use all of the paper that comes into our home, either by shredding it or scrunching for use in packing. In our business, we send out products daily and need lots of this stuff to pack in the boxes around the products.

personally, i find these strategy of distributing leaflets, hangings posters and streamers during election as purely a waste of money..and often unfriendly act against the environment..anyway, it has been the tradition i guess to do this during elections and it often leaves us - in the receiving line feeling overwhelm by all these trash.. well, i find these rather shiny leaflets useful in creating different beautiful and colorful paper mache (paper is manually teared in little pieces and pattern into something by layering the strips of paper with the use of a glue or paste)..like bowls, flower vases and even masks! or we could use it to create birds, flower vases through the art of folding...the paper is cut into squares and then folded in a way where you can insert the next folded paper..and voila! you'll create a work of art..out of these shiny leaflets..spent on in thousands by these aspiring politicians..you can try one of these..and it sure would lighten your mood creating something pretty out of these shiny leaflets..