Owen Casas here. I'm the Independent running for Maine House District 94 -Camden, Rockport & Islesboro- and I wanted to let you all know a little more about my campaign signs.

As some of you know, I ran for Representative in 2014 and during that campaign I had the opportunity to turn a dream into reality through action. The dream started years back, when I became more aware of politics and its relationship to these signs that would pop up every few years. It was the wastefulness of the signs that struck me.

Firstly, I had no idea if the signs were made locally or if they had to travel from far off locations to make it to the street corners I would see them on. Second, they always seemed a little chintzy to hold up to much and I would often see them blown into the ditch during or months after an election. Third, if the signs had a year on them they could only be used for that year... or you have to expend more resources to alter them in following years. Finally, other than advertising for one candidate, they served no useful purpose.

With all that in mind, I knew that if I ever ran for public office I would do my signs differently. I would use the principals of "reduce, reuse, recycle" in my approach. I decided that I would make the signs myself, sourcing as much material locally as I could to reduce their overall carbon footprint. They would be rugged and able to be reused many times over. I also wanted them to be useful when they were no longer needed, so they could be recycled for other purposes.

When I ran for Rep in 2014, I had been eyeballing some pine trees on our property, thinking they might fit the job. They were quite large and very close to the house so, not wanting them to fall on the house during a storm and needing sign material, we put together a crew to safely drop them. After they were dropped, I hauled them about 4 miles down the road to a friend who had a saw mill. He boarded them out and every time I passed by his house on errands, I would grab some more to bring home. My wife, volunteers, and I sanded them smooth in my front yard and then  stenciled "Independent CASAS for Representative" on them. Scraps and less desirable boards were then sawn into stakes at my neighbors house (Rest In Peace Gregory Eaton, you were the best neighbor I've ever had and thanks for all your help), stakes that would hold up the sign boards. Other than the screws and paint, everything was sourced and processed locally.

So there is the story behind the wooden CASAS signs that are now popping up around town. I'll keep using them until they are no longer useful for campaign material, then I'll find another use for them. Maybe I'll hand them down to another candidate to paint their name on. Maybe I'll build a chicken coop out of them. Maybe I'll split them up for kindling wood for people to heat their house with.

Whatever the use will be, the signs represent my approach to problem solving: Keep your eyes and ears open for new approaches. Look locally for the resources so the community benefits with minimal environmental impact. Put the hard work in to do the job right because if it was easy everyone would be doing it. And always try to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

If you would like a CASAS for Rep sign in your yard please feel free to reach out at owencasas@gmail.com, or on Facebook, or give me a call at (207) 333-0067.

Paid for and authorizes by Owen Casas