The Green Thing
In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But
that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of BC. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we
didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back
then. Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service.
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person.
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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am feeling a bit green here this morning after eating tha big bag of peanuts....does that count??
in amongst that humour is so much truth. it is such a shame the older generation are the ones geting the bashing while the human race continues raping the planet of resources at an alarming rate |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Thanks for posting and that is so insightful into things that were done but just not labelled as being green.
It's funny now as people abandon the car and get back on their bikes and environmentalism is now fashionable how these are all part of a life from not so long ago.
Thanks again for posting that up here! |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Thanks for posting that, I can relate to almost all of that article.
Next time my daughter gives me earache about how 'green' she is in this 'throw-away' age I'll remind her of how 'green' I used to be without even knowing it!  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Well I've had a foot in both scenarios so does the first half of my life when I didn't have labour saving devices cancel out the ones I have aquired as I've modernised my life as I've progressed on this mortal coil?
At what point did technology get too progressive?
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By *umourCouple
over a year ago
Rushden |
Of course, dishwashers have been shown to be cheaper in terms of water heating and the environment than washing up after every meal! Ours uses just 4.5 ltrs of water for a complete wash cycle..
Mrs R's car will do over 50mpg and it is not slow! Mine gets a meger 45! but it is a load lugger and does get some hard use!
Our new heating system has seen our usage go from £1600 per year (gas & Electric) to £1030 and the insulation will make it even better.
So, not only were we greener when we were young, but we are getting better all the time.  |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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Our refuse disposal and recycling in our borough is a laugh. You have to wash out all containers with water before placing them in the blue bin. You are not allowed to put polystyrene in any of the bins so have to drive up to the tip to dispose of it and other materials or drive to the bottle and clothing banks.
So dozens of households on the roads in their cars disposing of household waste is environmentally friendly as well as all that running water to clean refuse before you dispose of it?
Three times as many and twice as big wheelie bins - how much plastic and energy did that cost? |
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