In the shadow of viruses (3)

As promised a week ago I returned to Collingwood.

Before that I was contacted few times by City of Yarra with updates on state of the place of my concerns.
Personal vision confirmed these updates, see below...

Judging by belongings left on site, the occupant(s) feel safe here.

I appreciate practical approach of City of Yarra to presented issue, specifically in current time when there are many pressing issues.
Of course at the time of signalling this case I could not predict that it will coincide with Covid-19 disaster. On the other hand I hope that in its way it contributed to general health and safety.

In the shadow of viruses (2)

Week ago I reported HERE a dirty and  messy place very close to the school and a response I received from the local council (City of Yarra).
The response was quite positive - they assured me that they  "... will continue to clean and check it on regular basis".

Today, another Thursday, I hurried to the school to pick up my grandchildren and by the way to see the outcome of "cleaning... on regular basis".

Here is the update...

Well, how to say it?
Exactly same items were there on 18 Feb 2020. Including this particular loaf of bread.
Apparently my, old fashioned camera, missed all signs of regular cleaning.

Next report in a week time.

Price of a plastic shopping bag

In June this year our two main supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles, tried to limit usage of plastic bags. They stopped giving them for free.
After few weeks, Coles abandoned the action - our customers are not ready for it - was the message. So plastic bags are again delivered for free.

The Almighty Free Market nodded approvingly - Coles is the winner, Woolworths sales fell significantly - read HERE.

I could propose few ways to penalize shops and customers for using plastic bags, but each of them would mean intervention or a regulation of FREE MARKET, and that would be a sin against the main foundation of our great free world.

Withering pages

Last week we received a new issue of Yellow Pages. I put them next to the last year's...

See the difference? They shrank by 440 pages, about 17%. I checked inside - print size was the same, contents as well. Just the number of advertising businesses must have decreased.

Australian economy is doing well, so I doubt if this is a result of massive withdrawal from the business. Simple explanation would be - they shifted to internet.

Tree lovers might smile with delight.

I still have my doubts. Internet advertising carries also some ecological costs. There must be thousands and thousands of internet servers managing enormous ocean of advertising. This means lots of materials and energy. In this world nothing comes absolutely free.