The Smoking Ban
By July 2007 smoking will be banned in public places in England and Wales. Smokers will be banished outside. In some countries where a ban is already in force, thousands of patio heaters have sprung up to keep smokers warm.
Pubs! Say no to patio heaters
If there is just one patio heater per pub, hotel, restaurant and coffee shop in the UK, the total carbon emissions from patio heaters will more than treble from current levels. In advance of the ban in England, companies like Calor gas are encouraging pubs to install multiple heaters with large bulk stores of gas.
Keeping Smokers happy without patio heaters
Well smokers could just quit. But on the other hand, there is a range of attractive options to keep determined smokers warm (well warmer).
Pubs could use an attractive Gazebo to keep the rain off smokers. I particularly like this one, produced by Sash Ltd. The legislation states that shelters for smokers can only have solid walls surrounding a maximum of 50% of the space. They don’t have to be decorated with flowers. But why not?
My own design below is for an attractive shelter that will help to protect smokers from the wind.
Pub staff could hug smokers to keep them warm while they're outside. This could potentially be a role for bouncers, when they are not taken up being aggressive. Alternatively, pubs could provide a range of big, nice jumpers for smokers to borrow as they step outside.