From what I've noticed after three days along Italy's highways, bi-ways and backroads, smokers are not content merely polluting the air we breathe, but the roads we travel as well. Not that this is a scientific study, but from a cyclist's point-of-view, about 85% of all roadside rubbish has been cigarette packs...obviously tossed out of cars as they whiz by.
So this got me thinking--why not impose a deposit on cigarette packs like they have on beer and soft-drink bottles? A buck or Euro a pack and perhaps puffers will think twice about adding to roadway blight..."perhaps" being the operative word.
Even if not, a per-pack deposit can at least give rise to a clean-up campaign led by enterprising micro-entrepreneurs, who could've picked up an easy couple grand had they simply followed my route yesterday.
Either way, it's a win-win.
And another public service provided by Surprise Central!
The view on the side of Italy's roads...