Well, ours actually stinks to high heaven, but the squirrels haven't complained, the trash guys ride around all day on a truck full of stinky garbage, so I doubt ours bothers them, and we don't worry about it that much as we stop at the road on our way out to drop off a bag. Basically, there's no one to be offended but potential thieves, and I'm not concerned about their sensibilities. :-)