While walking around the market district of downtown Ottawa, yesterday, we came upon something called a “Kindness Meter”. It’s a parking meter that’s been reassigned to collect small donations for services that help homeless people.
The sign reads “The money collected in this meter will be given to community groups dedicated to providing services and resources for the homeless.”
I’m not convinced that its placement is effective, though. Being close to the garbage and recycling cans puts it in a high traffic area, and painting it white makes it stand out from other parking meters, on some level. However, it still looks like a parking meter and parking meters have a somewhat bad rap wherever you go. Also, the sign that identifies it as a Kindness Meter is only visible on one side at a certain height.
I say paint the meter with reflective zebra or tiger stripes, leopard or cow spots, or a starry night sky (with glow-in-the-dark stars). That would grab people’s attention.
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