Seems to me like there should be a technological solution to this problem. They have e-cigarettes now, why not an e-joss burner?
How about joss dry ice chunks.
I am a deeply compassionate man.
Many joss sticks are produced by prison labour. By banning them, we are taking away the employment opps for prisoners.
People can burn paper but just do it at some kind of incinerator. It’s seriously a retarded tradition.
I have often wondered what kind of ancestors or religious system would approve of a practice that obviously harms people and other living organisms here and now? If they do, what kind of system is this?
Seriously, the last thing this island needs is more particulates in the air. It’s time for folks to go electronic/digital–it would still have a carbon footprint (my typing away right now does as well) but at least it would slow down the obvious and harmful air pollution.
Guy
I’m with @Dr_Milker here. I’ve noticed a significant rise in the prevalence of e-cigs and vaping over the last two years. Not just among laowai, but locals, too. This chain-smoking cat in my building switched over to vape not long ago and he’s almost a different person. I don’t know why that’s relevant.
Anyway, yes. It should be banned. But. Burning of ghost money is toxic, and if they’re going to put caps and regulations on other types of carbon monoxide air pollution (c.g. vehicle emissions, indoor smoking) then there’s no reason other than the fear of upsetting the deeply ingrained ignorance of tradition in society NOT to prohibit the burning of trash in public.
Let them keep their traditions. I think OUTDOOR** burning of ghost money should be banned. If you want to burn that fuckin’ shit in your crib, knock. Yourselves. Out. Literally.
**This would cover everything that’s not inside your crib, so the balcony is off-limits, too.
I actually have been operating on the premise that the more ghost money a company burns, the worse a company it is in terms of quality, service and attitude, and so far I haven’t been proven wrong.
Yeah, you know there’s a problem when you need supernatural help for everday tasks… 
It absolutely should be banned. Just like slavery and whaling, it will not be missed.
There’s a lot of slavery and whaling going on to this day. Just sayin.
I do my part by never eating seafood.
I used to burn the odd incense stick at home to cover the smell of cooking but stopped because the incense here is garbage, and also the unnecessary burning. Managed to find an oil diffuser not made of plastic, glass bulb on wooden base, but good oil has been elusive.
But burning stacks of chemical paper for good luck seems bass ackwards to me. Culture is a funny thing, and the majority of people in Taiwan are in many ways culturally Chinese. This is one of the area that Taiwan os more Chinese than the PRC.
How do you change a culture? It’s a question asked today on another thread. The PRC approach to eliminating these cultural practices is probably the wrong way to go. I’m just glad (and, at times, incredulous), that people aren’t regularly burned by the hot braziers and open fires on what passes for sidewalks in my neighborhood.
Anyways, maybe not banning it, but an education campaign about the pros and cons?
I do my best to not own slaves.
Yay virtue signaling! 
Bombing runs mostly.
Funny, that’s basically what @ChewDawg said on the other thread.
Certainly in the middle east it hasn’t had a positive effect, and as much as I dislike the paper burning it seems bombing might be a bit extreme
Shame works. Taiwan has been shamed a few times since I’ve been here. Taipei used to be filthy and full of garbage. 
Hard to shame folks in the Middle East. Beating them seems to be the preferred method of achieving secular supplication. Saddam used to beat the feet of the national soccer team when they lost. It didn’t make them winners but I guarantee it made them try harder to win. 
Whaling, slavery, and dogmeat-eating. Do you defend it or condemn it? I condemn it in all its forms.
I join you in condemning whaling, slavery and dogmeat-eating.
Is joss sticks and paper burning really in the same league though?
So you condemn multiculturalism. Shame. I thought we’d come so far.
If condemn it like you, what do I win? Sticker, sucker or trophy? 
And your use of pronouns is atrocious. I condemn that in all platforms.
I’ll send you a sticker? Whaddya say?
I put ghost money-burning, late-night temple nonsense and close-range fireworks in the category of things that won’t be missed once they are finally banished.
But don’t ask me. Maybe ask the poor asthmatic child who suffers every time they light up, or the several hundred people at risk of joining the “excess death” statistics from air pollution?