Tralee firm and An Taisce in bid to keep campaign green

A TRALEE-based company has teamed up with An Taisce in a bid to make the General Election campaign less damaging to the environment.

Candidates.ie – a division of Tralee-based tech company NoteCloud – and the Environmental Education Unit (EEU) of An Taisce have announced a partnership to help candidates promote their policies online while reducing the carbon footprint of the election by planting thousands of trees.

Election candidates can subscribe to the candidates.ie website, and subsequently over 50 per cent of the revenue generated will be used in various EEU An Taisce programmes – such as LEAF, Green-Schools, Clean Coasts and the National Spring Clean – to plant trees in schools and communities across Ireland.

The Candidates.ie website gives voters the opportunity to get to know candidates from the convenience of their smartphone or laptop.

While the key benefit of candidates.ie is bringing voters – particularly younger voters – and candidates closer together, the chief inspiration for the idea was tackling plastic waste.

It has been estimated that about half a million campaign posters will be erected around the country over the next few weeks with the majority of those likely to end up in landfill after the election.

“We’re delighted to be partnering with EEU An Taisce on this project. The candidates.ie website will help connect voters with candidates and reduce the carbon footprint of the general election. It’s a win-win,” said Candidates.ie representative Brian Stephenson.

An Taisce’s Rachel Geary said the plan will not only see trees planted but also help raise awareness of their importance.

Photo Pauline Dennigan Rachel Geary of An Taisce and Brian Stephenson of the website Candidates.ie in Tralee Town Park at the launch of their joint environmental election tree planting campaign.