Anti-Smoking Ads and Packaging = Visual Pollution

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for programs to get smokers to kick their habit. But it's a shame that non-smokers are subjected to quite graphic anti-smoking advertisements while trying to relax in front of the TV.

If you haven't seen them, and have a morbid curiosity to view the ads, here's a link to the YouTube search results for "australian anti-smoking ads". Warning: the images of smoking-related disease are graphic.

Fortunately, a quick zap with the remote can remove the offending images.

But another form of visual pollution can be found by the side of many suburban streets: discarded cigarette packets. These not only contain written warnings such as "SMOKING CAUSES LUNG CANCER", but they also contain snaps from those disturbing TV ads. Aargh!

Perhaps we should impose a deposit scheme on cigarette packaging? It (mostly) works for soft drink bottles. The deposit should be big enough, say $1, to give smokers enough incentive to cash-in the empty packs. And if this is not enough to stop smokers from littering, then having a large enough bounty should encourage others to pick up and return the packs.

Scavengers in Suburbia

Our local council has designated that this week residents will be able to leave "hard rubbish" in front of their houses for collection. I cleared out some stuff that I wanted to get rid of and placed them as requested on the kerbside on Sunday evening.

By Monday afternoon, several scavengers had obviously pulled up in their cars and sifted through my pile of rubbish for anything they might find useful. I don't have a problem with that - as they say, one person's trash is another's treasure. But it would be nice if they left the pile as neat as they found it. So I was not happy to see an empty box left almost blocking the footpath, and other bits of rubbish flung around the place. This meant I had to go out last night and tidy up the pile again, otherwise I might get a visit from an angry council rep.

Maybe I'm being to harsh. The scavengers have already reduced my pile by almost half! I may need to put more out just to make my paltry pile look more impressive.

There's no firm time when the council's contractors will actually come to collect the rubbish. At the current rate, there may not be much left for them to pick up! I suspect the council deliberately holds back from collecting the hard rubbish long enough to allow scavengers to pick off most of the stuff, leaving them with less to collect.