What do you do with campaign signs after the election is over? Environmental-news blog Grist links to a brief Swamplot story from earlier this year that pointed to one solution to the problem. The suggestion came from abc13 reporter Miya Shay, who snapped the photo above, showing used signs used as temporary stair-tread protectors in a house under construction. “Let’s face it,” Grist writer Katharine Wroth adds, “it’s fun to kick politicians in the teeth.”

Wroth has several more suggestions for reusing leftover signs, including employing the corrugated plastic ones as a siding material. But another recommendation is more striking: You can send Corex or Coroplast signs to a bird-of-prey conservancy organization in San Antonio called Last Chance Forever. Why does LCF want them?

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Coroplast is lightweight, flexible, easily cut and formed, cleanable, water resistant and, most importantly, safe to use around the birds. At LCF, we use this versatile material in many ways. Small signs are used to modify standard transport kennels so that the large metal mesh that can catch and damage feathers won’t create a hazard for birds in transit.

Larger signs make easy-to-clean floor mats for perching birds. Rather than using newspaper once, a sheet of coroplast can be cleaned and reused for a year or more until it becomes brittle.

The largest signs become wall liners and shade screens in the birds’ chambers.

• Everywhere, the signs [Grist]
• How To Recycle Election Paraphernalia [Huffington Post]
• Save Your Campaign Signs for Us! [Last Chance Forever]
• The Path to the Top Is Paved with the Forgotten Efforts of Others [Swamplot]

Photo of stair treads: Miya Shay; Photo of falcon mat: Last Chance Forever