Shortly after he received a emailed invitation from The Times to tape a candidate statement for online viewers, the Green party hopeful in 91原创 showed up at the newspaper offices with two of his three campaign signs in the back of his pickup truck.

Wally Martin had taped his own name and the Green party logo over some recycled plastic signs scrounged from other political campaigns and attached one to a plastic lawn chair and the other to a weather-beaten wooden step ladder.

鈥淭he stepladder is on its last legs, it鈥檚 no good for stepladdering but it鈥檚 good enough to hold a sign,鈥� Martin explained.

鈥淭he sign material is all recycled. I got it from the municipal election.鈥�

He convinced the candidates to donate their left-over campaign signs and used them to lay a floor in the crawl-space of the Murrayville Community Hall, where he volunteers.

There were a few signs left over, so when he decided to run his own campaign, he had the necessary materials close at hand to create a recycled message to voters.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to the landfill.鈥�

He made the third sign using another abandoned plastic lawn chair, attaching a recycled municipal sign and staking it next to a Murrayville intersection.

The Green party candidate for the 91原创 riding was making a point about reducing waste through keeping plastic out of landfills.

And also sending a message about thrift.

鈥淚 committed to remaining as close to a zero budget [for the campaign] as I  can.鈥�

An online Green party profile describes Martin as an award-winning environmentalist, organic grower and inventor.

The married father of three and grandfather of five has worked in real estate, construction and inn-keeping.

Martin says he knows the community extremely well, having lived in Aldergrove for eight years, the Poppy area for another eight, two in Walnut Grove and the last 20 in Murrayville.

He describes himself as 鈥渁n inveterate letter to the newspaper editor writer鈥� who is no stranger to political campaigns.

Among other things, Martin participated in the province-wide campaign that managed to repeal the Harmonized Sales Tax, and has helped other candidates  run for office.

He has a history of involvement with environmental and conservation-related causes, including protection of groundwater quality, preservation of farmland in the Agricultural Land Reserve, encouraging the use of solar energy and promoting energy efficiency in buildings and transit.

鈥淚鈥檝e worked on campaigns for other people,鈥� Martin said.

鈥淭his [conducting my own] is a first.鈥�

He was interviewed by The Times shortly after his very first all-candidates meeting as a participant.

鈥淚 enjoyed it immensely.鈥�

Martin said he decided to run in the current election under the Green banner because he already personally supported their approach.

鈥淭he Green party was a perfect fit for me,鈥� Martin said.

He particularly likes the long view the party takes on policy.

鈥淲e want to look ahead seven generations.鈥�

His goal is convince potential supporters that going Green is a practical, business-like option.

鈥淭here鈥檚 still people out there who think we鈥檙e pot-smoking tree huggers, when it couldn鈥檛 be further from the truth.鈥�

Among other things, he wants to see 91原创 transit improved with light rail running along the tracks currently reserved for freight trains.

The Lower Mainland had an extensive network of interurban trains 100 years ago, he said, and it could again.

He also wants a ban on genetically-modified food, calling it 鈥渦ntested.鈥�

Martin thinks he could benefit from vote splitting that will divide right-of-centre support between incumbent Liberal Mary Polak and Conservative challenger John Cummins.

He expects to run an energetic campaign of door-knocking and predicts he will lose about 20 pounds from all the walking.