I am sure all non-smokers share my annoyance when they are close to someone with a cigarette in the street and cannot avoid the trail of smoke. It irritates your eyes and sometimes catches in the back of your throat. I try, wherever possible, to keep clear of smokers and avoid these irritations.

However, one problem that some people may have overlooked is cigarettes in Hong Kong's refuse bins. A lot of smoke comes from these bins because the majority of smokers put their cigarette ends in the ashtrays on top of these bins. However, they do not stub out the cigarettes but just leave them to smoulder and smoke.

I have often seen these cigarette ends in a smoking pile. It is particularly bad with those bins situated next to a pedestrian crossing. Pedestrians have to stand next to the bin while they wait for the lights to change.