The Green Thing

[les]

The Green Thing

In the line at the supermarket, 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 shop or off licence. They sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilized and refilled and re-used. 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 lifts and escalators in every shop and office building.
We walked to the local shops and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go to a supermarket.

We bought fruit and veg loose - and washed them at home. We didn't have to throw away bins full of plastic, foam and paper packaging that need huge recycling plants fed by monster trucks all day, everyday.

But she was right. But we didn't have the green thing back 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 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.

Kids got hand-me-down (mostly hand made or hand knitted) clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing shipped from the other side of the planet.
But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then shops repaired things with funny things called spare parts - we didn't need to throw whole items away because a small part failed.

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 Wales .

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 petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power and hand clippers for the hedges.

We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a brightly lit, air conditioned health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity and then drink millions of bottles of that special water from those plastic bottles.
But she's right; But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

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

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new plastic pen, and we replaced blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole plastic razor just because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their parents 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 fish & chip shop.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a young smartass.

[manwithcape]

I'm just going to put ----- between mine and Les' text to show where it switches.


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In the line at the supermarket, 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 shop or off licence. They sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilized and refilled and re-used. 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.

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The glass bottles used back then consumed 25-50% more energy to be transported because they are so much heavier as today's Plastics.
Todays bottles are made out of oil and after collection are either reused as plastic (recycling) or as oil (energy recovery by burning). They really are recycled.

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We walked up stairs, because we didn't have lifts and escalators in every shop and office building.
We walked to the local shops and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go to a supermarket.
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I agree completely with this one.
I follow the transportation circle rule.
<5km use your bicycle , >5km and okay weather , use your bicycle.
I don't even own any motorised vehicle but I'm unlike the average person.
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We bought fruit and veg loose - and washed them at home. We didn't have to throw away bins full of plastic, foam and paper packaging that need huge recycling plants fed by monster trucks all day, everyday.
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Without those packaging that food wouldn't be available.
Food would go to waste in amounts more than equal to the plastics 'wasted' today.
Also food packaging plastic is dry and uncontaminated so could theoretically be recycled for almost 100%

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But she was right. But we didn't have the green thing back 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 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.

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I'll adopt a child if I ever want one, it's the green way
As for the drying. you are right.

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Kids got hand-me-down (mostly hand made or hand knitted) clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing shipped from the other side of the planet.
But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

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Second hand stores FTW
Those things still happen.
I don't think a lot of people just throw away clothes they are mostly given away (to charity)
Clothes back in the old days were made new as well.

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Back then shops repaired things with funny things called spare parts - we didn't need to throw whole items away because a small part failed.

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 Wales .

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.
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Most stuff can be repaired if you have a little technical know-how and the right tools.
If not most stuff can be taken apart and the materials re-used.

How much energy did your old tv consume? I bet it wasn't less as modern day televisions because the screens are much more energy effiecent now. more light less heat.

In the kitchen you burned precious fossil fuels to heat your dinner instead of using more efficient induction plates and the like.

When you had to inform someone you mailed him on paper! tree murderer!
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Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power and hand clippers for the hedges.
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We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a brightly lit, air conditioned health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity and then drink millions of bottles of that special water from those plastic bottles.
But she's right; But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
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Modern day fitness centers are switching over to use the energy generated on those threadmills for lighting and airconditioning etc...
Spinning classes can provide more energy as the gym is using. (25 people on spinning bikes > lighting and airconditioning for a large gym with multiple large halls)
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We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a plastic cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new plastic pen, and we replaced blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole plastic razor just because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.
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How many bottles of water = one fountain + it's energy use?
And the other stuff still happens.
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Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their parents 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 fish & chip shop.
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the first thing still happens, 90% of the people who go to college with me use their bike around campus and public transport for larger distances.

Sure but you didn't have an electrical device to visit Milovana back in your day.
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But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a young smartass.[/quote]

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It must be clear by now that I am one of those younger generation folks.
If there is one thing that gets on my nerves it is old people telling me the youth of today is wrong and everything was better in the old days.
As for why I felt the need to give another view on this.
The young people who draw the most attention to themselves are not the average.
Saying the youth of today is a wastefull, rotten bunch is like saying the average priest is a child molester.

There are reasons for everything. Especially where I live ecology is a major issue for most people.
Not a conscious one mind you but still.

Modern technology (95 and onward) started incorporating durability and recycling in the specs.
There is a lot more going in as the average old or young person knows about.


It's good to be aware of possible wastefull practices that came into existence but do not judge untill you have investigated the entire lifecycle of the products and all of their effects.
plastic is bad, it is waste, it is useless?
or does it save food, transportation energy?
Is it waste or is it a usefull resource?

For more info. Go back to school

youthfull greetings,

Manwithcape

[Evals]

Thought provoking. The problem is to me that the clerk is incorrect about her assumption that the prior generation wrecked the environment. One cannot make it sound like they actually did all those things listed because they wanted to be environmentally friendly. Only having one television, replacing blades instead of entire razors, hanging clothes to dry, using glass milk bottles, and so on... While I appreciate it was indeed conservative, it was not a result of a difference in the attitude of the people so much as it is was a difference in the technology of the time. It was when a way of life necessitated conservation and was thus the norm for everybody. I don't think it should be used to promote a supposed difference of values been the previous and current generations.

[les]

Grabs new wooden spoon.

I think there are three generations to think of.
Those who were brought up post war "Grand Parents" (Me)
When things were scarce and expensive so make do was the order of the day.

Deposits on bottles meant that the vehicle that delivered the full bottles took the empty bottles.
Even brand new bottles/items need to be cleaned before using.

Next is the generation Of plenty many current parents.

Now we have the children of today who realise a lot of waste needs to be and can be curbed.

This was aimed at the grand parents as they nod sagely at the great waste they perceive.

That fish caught in English waters are shipped to the far east to be prepared before being shipped back again to be sold in England.

There is wast and many need a reason yo stop that.
giving good reasons is the hard part.
Making it simple so its done is the hardest.

BTW a ready made meal may well have only 10% of its value in the actual food content.
But that's another story.

BTW2
Things tend to go around
What happens when the oil runs out.

In England people complain wind farms are noisy and want them not to ru when its windy.

[Floridashark]

Those who criticize our generation forget who raised it

[les]

I remember when my kids discovered sex and believed I had no idea what it was.

We all need to understand that everybody has different views
Dependent on current circumstances and previous knowledge

[isaccs77]

+1 for Evals comment...good analysis.

With a similar analysis, the store clerk should not have assumed that because they old lady's generation did not act in a manner that is now considered "green", that said generation would not have acted in a "green" manner had they known what it was to be "green".

Of course, whether some of the "old" ways of doing things are actually more "green" than the new ways, is questionable. Factor less energy efficient appliances, vehicles, refining techniques, replacement costs, etc, etc, and you may determine the old lady's generation was not only less green, but less efficient at being less green.

We all, at times, look to the past with sentamentalism and wish we could step back into the old way of doing things; however, if we were really back there, would we be happier? Better off? The vast majority of us are not Transcendentalist, which makes it difficult to think we'd even last a week in the past.

[Bandit224]

Why look backwards in time, when you can look forwards?

[masterstroke]

Why look backwards in time, when you can look forwards?

As the author and philosopher George Santayana wrote: 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.'

This is not to say we should live in the past. However, the longer I live, the more more I find myself saying "Here we go again...I've seen this before." Many times I've asked, am I getting older and wiser or is everyone else getting younger and stupider?

I've watched two wars (Vietnam and the Gulf War I) and fought in two (Afghanistan and Iraq). I've lived though gas shortages in the 1970s, the threat of world nuclear destruction (Cold War) in the 1980s, four U.S. recessions (1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and the current one.)

The collapse the U.S. banking system in 2008 looks a lot like the collapse of the Savings and Loan Scandal of the early 1990s. Occupy Wall Street... Can you say 1968? Look back at the demonstrations at the 1968 Democrat Convention and the Kent State shootings in the 1970s. At least Occupy Wall Street protesters don't have to worry about being shot or clubbed. Yeah, some were pepper-sprayed. (Other parts of the the world, that's a different story). I'm sure I've missed a few events.

I don't want to live in the past. However, I don't want to repeat past mistakes either.

(Steps off soapbox).