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.