We didn't have "the green thing" back then

I received this as an email today. Thought I would share and get thoughts on the message..

This is an interesting perspective on today's "New" concern for the environment....

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

That's right, they didn't have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sentthem back to the plant to be washed, sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she's
right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They 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, they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they 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 pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you.

When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power.

They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water.

They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they 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.


It's a crying shame that we didn't have "the green thing" back then!

Very good post. We consume so much in todays world its quite astounding. From oil to plastic the consumption rate has doubled maybe even tripled in the last 50 years. This is caused by many things, population growth being the biggest. But I think that it comes also from our recent psychological problems one being "more, more, more" we are intoxicated by instant gratification and we want it instantaneously infinite. We also do not look before we jump and end up creating products and forms of energy that produce mass amounts of waste that could end of making the planet very inhospitable for life to exist on.

We need new energy, to stop consuming mass amounts of product and to stop genetically altering food and nature.

reply to post by rogerstigers


We didn't have toilet paper 3000 years ago either. What's the point?

Indeed. And this is the kind of green movement that I tend to follow myself. I don't throw anything away that cannot be repurposed. I usually do things manually instead of going out and buying something to do the job (with the exception of my cultivator which was needed because of the texas clay I have to deal with here).

What gets me though is how the green thing is labeled as "new", when really what it SHOULD be is a return to the older ways of conserving and being frugal.

reply to post by Somehumanbeing


If you get crap on your shoe, would you prefer to wipe it off with paper or wash it off with water?

Opinions are like butts. Everyone has one and most of them stink because they use modern conveniences that aren't really all that convenient.

One that I didn't see on there - They used to actually fix things that broke rather than replacing them.

I can remember the TV repairman fixing our old tube TV several times. I can remember my folks getting most of the small appliances fixed - often several times over the years (toaster, radio, mixer, vac).

Now it can be amazingly hard to get something fixed and it often costs more than a new whatever it is.

Society says it wants green - but what most want is shiny, new, cheap, packaged and disposable.

Originally posted by Somehumanbeing
reply to post by rogerstigers

 

We didn't have toilet paper 3000 years ago either. What's the point?

The point is that new and improved is not always better or "improved". What was so wrong about a manual mower? Nothing really. People initially bought power mowers to give themselves more free time.. now you are hard pressed to even find a manual mower.

I recently busted up some sections of sidewalk with a sledge hammer and pick-haddock. I could have rented some power hammer, but I did it by hand. I got great excercise and felt like I actually DID something. In the processes, I used that much less electricity and gas (rental, usage, and return of hammer).

There is nothing wrong with technology. I work in the IT field and I find it tobe very useful.. but not for everything and not when one could just as easily do something manually.

It's all about balance... we humans seem to have lost ours.

reply to post by Frogs


AMEN! I have a soldering gun and will often fix a cheap electronic toy rather than return or throw it away. People have lost touch. You know there are people at my work who can't change a tire on their car? What has happened to us?

reply to post by rogerstigers


Yes. I think it comes down to laziness of the mass populace. It seems people today put way to much faith in the "Green Revolution" and these so called "eco friendly" corporations. Instead of doing things for themselves, like stop consuming large amounts of plastic and paper. The argument I hear from most people against this is "Well they are just going to keep making it anyway so why should I stop". This is the mentality that is really destroying the world.

I am no saint and I think we are all guilty when it comes to this problem. I mean if I am starving and there is a Mc Donald's down the street and nothing else...I'm going to eat something. I know it wont be good for me but it would be worst to starve to death. But we really need to address the full issue and have serious reforms on all major producers.

reply to post by rogerstigers
Good thread, I definitely had to think about this one. You say the green thing is labeled new, and it should be a return to frugal ways, but I disagree. We should be moving forward. The thing keeping us in this oil age are corporations, they thrive on oil and petroleum based products. I think we should move forward out of corporate greed and in to a new age of clean energy, and I don't mean nuclear. I think your right on the fact however that we have become very wasteful. But instead of going back we should move forward into an free of corporate shackles.





all the best,
Jacob

reply to post by XxRagingxPandaxX


I agree in part. You are right about new, clean energy sources and the like. But there are also many of the old ways that are very green. I think it will take a mix of old and new.

reminds you of the good old times you never saw