Just had to share this with you...

FarmersWife_2

Green Thing

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 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.

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 nappies because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 3 kw -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. 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 them?), not a screen the size of Hampshire . 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 tram 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?


Cx

Fruball

Wow! That is a good read and soooooooooooooooo true.

It annoys me that they don't want to give out bags but have big plastic hanging promotions hanging from the ceiling and on doors etc which are changed frequently... I wonder how many bags it would take to make one of those promo boards :cool:

Thanks for posting

jamanda

Bravo - well said!

adelight

Well said, kind of. No current generation has the right to be snooty about how much better they were at looking after the planet, everyone has done things which were later discovered to be "bad" and no doubt some of the current green initiatives will turn out to be worthless in the future.

I think it was more what went on in the 80s and 90s that had the bigger effect and caused the transition into a wateful society. Many of those old style ethics of at home recycling are frowned upon and not readily available these days. The things I have read when googling for tips on reusable alternatives are awful, people saying that those who use reusable nappies are disgusting and bad parents. The way we live our lives has changed and rather than the good practises being adapted (like why not deliver milk of an evening when people are more often in than at 9/10am? milk delivered after people went to work is the main reason i hear for people stopping using milk men) everything has become disposable and it was marketed as the future, but they didn't know now just how bad it would get. Now we need to bring back some old ethics but it's seen as regressing into old, uneducated, unhygienic ways because er... hate to use such a cliche, but we have all been "brain washed" to a certain extent.

On the flip side, there are also some wrong assumptions that everything old is "green" and many people are unwilling to give renewable and energy efficient fuel sources a go. For example everyone wants a wood burning stove it seems, but if everyone had one, where would all the wood come from? Please no wood burning stove enthusiasts try to pick me up on this, you may love your stove and it may be great for your needs but there are more energy efficient options and it is not a practical solution for everyone. I realise that often they're wanted mainly for aesthetic purposes, they do look a lot nice than solar panels all over your roof.

FarmersWife_2

adelight wrote: »

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For example everyone wants a wood burning stove it seems, but if everyone had one, where would all the wood come from? Please no wood burning stove enthusiasts try to pick me up on this, you may love your stove and it may be great for your needs but there are more energy efficient options and it is not a practical solution for everyone. I realise that often they're wanted mainly for aesthetic purposes, they do look a lot nice than solar panels all over your roof.

True True.... I dont burn wood though ... well I do sometimes, but its usually dead wood...

I burn cabbages ...a totally eco fuel made from a waste product from oil production

C x

lauroar

Just to put another perspective on things, I have seen several reports that show that the environmental impact of creating a re-usable canvas bag is over 400 times greater than a plastic bag, so if you use a plastic bag twice (i.e. to carry shopping then as a binbag) you would have to use the canvas bag over 800 times (without washing it) to reduce the "environmental impact" of producing the bag used. Obviously canvas is biodegradable and plastic isn't but I think plastic bags aren't as totally evil as everyone makes out.

It is however a nice issue for the media/politicians to latch on to to make themselves look "green".

I do try not to use plastic myself as much as possible and know several people working on trying to produce a viable biodegradable plastic to roll out, fingers crossed.

scheming_gypsy

Strange thing is...

store - blocks - z's instead of s' - pizza joint - gasoline.. etc etc

The story is American, but don't they use brown paper sacks instead of carrier bags?

Hadley

Does sound like it was written by an American.In some American supermarkets you will be asked paper or plastic.I used to like the brown bags but only good if you are in the car or doing a small shop.

catkins

I do on the whole agree but having recently started working as a Christmas temp in a shop I am horrified by how many people want plastic bags and for items that really do not need one.

For instance a greetings card which is already in cellophane and small enough to fit in almost all handbags or one of the other numerous carrier bags most of the customers are carrying. Some customers buy one pen and ask for a bag!!!

Also our bags are not that thick so I am often asked to split purchases into 2, 3, 4 or whatever bags and then often to double those bags up so they do not split!!!!

I also get customers asking me to double the bags as they do not want the person they are with seeing what they have bought but because the bags are thin it takes at least 3 to effectively hide the item. Surely it would be simpler to bring a strong thick bag out with you?

rinabean

When exactly do you propose that the "current generation" had time to cause any of these problems? My entire adult life - ie, the time I was responsible for my own quality of life - has been spent in a recession. I've never had the opportunity to be wasteful (not that I'd want to).

It was the generations before me who caused these problems, despite all the things you've listed. But I don't think they meant to. They surely only wanted things to be better for the future - for me. I'll blame past politicians, maybe, but not anyone who was just trying to improve life for their family. And without the wisdom of my grandparents, who certainly did live tougher lives than I, I would never be able to get by as well I as do. There's no need to turn things into a war between generations.

And yeah, this does sound very american. I suppose the overall point still stands.

Minihauk

lauroar wrote: »

Just to put another perspective on things, I have seen several reports that show that the environmental impact of creating a re-usable canvas bag is over 400 times greater than a plastic bag, so if you use a plastic bag twice (i.e. to carry shopping then as a binbag) you would have to use the canvas bag over 800 times (without washing it) to reduce the "environmental impact" of producing the bag used. Obviously canvas is biodegradable and plastic isn't but I think plastic bags aren't as totally evil as everyone makes out.

I am not sure this is correct. Surely if you reuse the canvas bag the impact lessens each time, it doesn't increase. :cool: