Monday, January 3, 2011

Costly Little Packages

It was too easy to find some ugly pictures for this post.  Butts, in a grocery store parking lot.  Packaging, thrown onto my front lawn by a careless passer-by.  Even putting the disturbing health realities of smoking aside, it's a fantastically expensive, legal, habit to have!  I started thinking about the rough average of $5 per pack that most smokers have to pay in the US right now.  What could that buy?
The cost of 1 pack of cigarettes could buy:
a combo meal at many fast-food restuarants.

The cost of 2 packs of cigarettes could buy:
a year's supply of vitamins for a needy child at Haiti's Christian School of New Vision.

The cost of 3 packs of cigarettes could buy:
a Girlfriends Pin made in Kenya of recycled materials, via fair trade outlet Ten Thousand Villages.

The cost of 4 packs of cigarettes could buy:
five environmentally friendly Green Power blocks through most electric companies.

The cost of 5 packs of cigarettes could buy:
food for a family of four to eat for a couple of weeks through Feeding America food banks.

The cost of 6 packs of cigarettes could buy:
bees, a hive and education for a family to learn beekeeping skills through Heifer International.

The cost of 7 packs of cigarettes could buy:
a typical monthly gym membership.

The cost of 8 packs of cigarettes could buy:
a dozen roses or similar floral arrangement.

The cost of 9 packs of cigarettes could buy:
45 printed copies of the Guide to Preventable Cancer from the Prevent Cancer foundation.

The cost of 10 packs of cigarettes could buy:
adoption of a wild animal, including a plush version to keep, through the World Wildlife Fund.

The cost of 11 packs of cigarettes could buy:
a low flow toilet for a deserving family's new home via Habitat for Humanity.

The cost of 12 packs of cigarettes could buy:
an hour-long massage at many reputable massage studios.

2 comments:

  1. I am not a smoker but thought this post was interesting...

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  2. Amazing insight! I'd love a variation on this for the cost of Copenhagen, maybe I could convince my husband to stop dipping...so gross...

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