Checking
out at the store the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should
bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the
environment.
The
woman apologized and explained. "We didn't have this green thing back in
my earlier days."
The
young clerk responded, "That's our
problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for
future generations."
She
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.
Grocery
stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous
things. Most memorable, besides household garbage bags, was the use of
brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks.This was to ensure that
public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced
by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown
paper bags.
But
too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.
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 throwaway kind. We
dried clothes on a line not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts
-- wind and solar power really did dry your clothes back in our early days. Kids
got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters not always
brand-new clothing. And we didn't have refrigerators running 24X7, we used ice. (See June Blog - The Ice Man...).
But
that young 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?) Not a screen the size
of the state of Montana . 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 wadded up old newspapers 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 moms 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 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger
joint.
But
isn't it sad that the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were
just because we didn't have the green thing back
then?
Now friends, I hope this doesn't sound like "Self Justification" for an older generation. It just provides a perspective. And, it is so good that
people today are concerned enough to try to be green in light
of all of the technology that has changed life in our country over the last 100
years.
4 comments:
Excellent perspective! Thank you!
And don;t forget dad, we walked six miles to school everyday, and it was uphill both ways! :-]
You are right though, You and I both did many of those things. I still remember cutting up paper bags to cover my school books with. I also remember putting dead bats that were in our house in them, and making eye holes and drawing a face and wearing them for halloween. Those were really the best of times, thanks to you and mom!
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