Everywhere you go, there are just fags everywhere. Sick of em' I am.
 |
| I think you'll find smoking indoors is illegal, sir. |
If the above GIF didn't otherwise inform you, I'm not being a dirty stinking homophobe but instead referring to the constant littering of cigarettes and not any particular man who may want to have sex with another man, because that's totally fine. Unless of course either of these men may drop a cigarette before engaging in coitus with each other, then it's not cool. Litterbug!
Recently friendly local designer with the immaculate fringe Megan posted about
a pretty solid cigarette bin, spurring me into a fit of excitement—which is quite odd considering it's little more than a yellow box with two holes and a glass panel. Though it's stupidly simple, there is something rather engaging about the box, the option of choice, interactivity and luminous yellow!
I am a supporter of free choice, though not directly a supporter of smoking as although in most cases you don't harm anyone else from puffing greyish white clouds around your respiratory system, I just can't see any benefit from partaking in smoking—perhaps I'm just not cool enough.
Either way,
I think these simple bins are bloody fantastic; they are a breathe of fresh air for the community that seek to not have any.
I feel too often we see cigarette butts on the ground because there is no reason for them not to be there. There is truly little incentive for anyone to seek out a bin once they've finished their smoke and I don't assume anyone that does smoke is any less socially conscious than someone who does, but if you've optionally started smoking, there is clearly a sense of rebellion and anti-conformist within you; so why would they want to hunt around for their nearest wall mounted nearly black-grey, most likely on fire cigarette bin just to dispose of something that could be just a 'cooly' flicked?
This little lime yellow bin is the answer, an engagement of interest—a functional design that has truly taken it's audience into account. For the most part people are only using 'post-nicotine sticks' to vote whether they prefer one hop to another but it's ideology is of participation, rivalry and community; three driving factors that likely sit behind every expensive hobby.
Yes, it does seem bizarre that I would refer to smoking as a hobby, but as I see it, it's got little different from any hobby I know of—a devoted community, a sense of fulfilment and questionable productive gain.
I find these bins to be a productive, unpatronising banner for possible advancements in social awareness, both of litter and that of health; with the glass panels displaying a sort of squashed orange and white bar chart of preference and public health. To me it's tackling to revert how smokers are treated within society, the students of lifestyle choices.
I feel students and smokers are not so different in their societal roles and if university taught me anything it's that a large proportion of smokers are students—though how they afford to be so, is still a mystery. I find that both communities alike are mildly exploited and judged hegemonically.
Students give us your details for these various free goods, Smokers drink here because we've got outdoor heating, Students are always drinking, Smokers always smell etc. etc. etc.
So yeah, well done smoking bins, you did a good thing today. I realise that smoking isn't a necessary choice and that it costs our National Health Service millions each year, for what otherwise is an avoidable habit. But like everything, it's a choice and the freedom to have that choice is what empowers us—never mind the fortunes in tax we receive upon buying cigarettes.
To me, these bins are a clear indicator to how socially engaging infrastructure should work; scrap digital bus stop screens and you can burn those suggestion boxes, we want luminous yellow and iconic references.
