The New Green Deal
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Joined: Jan 2003
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The New Green Deal
I don't know if you've seen this but someone sent it to me. I remember all that stuff. Made me think of cutting the lawn with an old push reel mower.
Enjoy
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment,.
The woman apologized to the young girl 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."
The older lady said that 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 school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. I drew sabre jets and the rat fink on mine.
. 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. (Mine has 500hp.)
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 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 the state of Montana but it was in a wooden cabinet with doors.
.
In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. Can I lick the spoon?
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 blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
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 in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing."
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 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 smart ass young person. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off... Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.
I found lots of Vintage in here. Cheered me up. Brought back a few memories. Then I remembered I remember it.
fltsfshr
Enjoy
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment,.
The woman apologized to the young girl 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."
The older lady said that 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 school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribbling. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. I drew sabre jets and the rat fink on mine.
. 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. (Mine has 500hp.)
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 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 the state of Montana but it was in a wooden cabinet with doors.
.
In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. Can I lick the spoon?
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 blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
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 in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing."
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 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 smart ass young person. We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off... Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smartass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.
I found lots of Vintage in here. Cheered me up. Brought back a few memories. Then I remembered I remember it.
fltsfshr
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 2,876
Likes: 475
Hey heads up, it was your generation(s) who came up with all of those problematic 'conveniences' that you're railing against here.
Unless you're saying people under 30 came up with styrofoam, are the ones buying the idiotic 400+ hp SUV's (remind me how environmentally friendly American cars were in the 60s/70s, getting 10 MPG, polluting without a care and breaking under 100k miles), putting elevators & escalators everywhere, etc.
Think before you post.
Unless you're saying people under 30 came up with styrofoam, are the ones buying the idiotic 400+ hp SUV's (remind me how environmentally friendly American cars were in the 60s/70s, getting 10 MPG, polluting without a care and breaking under 100k miles), putting elevators & escalators everywhere, etc.
Think before you post.
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 30,071
Likes: 5,505
From: Ontario Canada
hard to pinpoint when the environment went downhill, in terms of chemicals like DDT, PCB's and the like , probably many decades ago and we are still paying the price for dangerous chemicals of the past.
Personally I think the baby boomer generation ruined the earth, but that's just my opinion, I'm a tad younger than that group.
Personally I think the baby boomer generation ruined the earth, but that's just my opinion, I'm a tad younger than that group.
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 46,031
Likes: 5,493
From: Loveland, CO
Interesting. My kids are 32 and 31 years-old and this topic is always on their minds and they have the attitude like the girl in the story. I see their point. I have a friend and know others who refuse to believe recycling matters and refuse to take the time to sort their trash. I do that much but I'm still guilty of buying water in plastic bottles. My kids hate that.
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 25,689
Likes: 409
From: Plattsburgh, NY
I relate to the old lady, though I like computers, bigger TV's, power kitchen gadgets and microwave, power mowers and pens. Still do most of the other stuff like clothes, dishes, walking, bags, and returnable bottles/cans.
Then again, I live in the sticks.
Levi
Then again, I live in the sticks.
Levi
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 30,881
Likes: 4,852
From: Medina, OH
I try to always buy beverages in glass or aluminum. I use a metal reusable water bottle instead of plastic. I do keep several cases of water in plastic bottles of emergency use only. We are starting to get use to using reusable bags at the grocery store. We always recycle and make sure that we rinse before discarding.
If everyone would just make a small effort.........
If everyone would just make a small effort.........
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 46,087
Likes: 8,530
From: Mish-she-gan
We've recycled for as long as I can recall. Donna washes everything before it goes even when the company says its not necessary.
Personally I question if anyone's individual effort does any good in the big picture. Its like thinking computers would save paper and in turn trees. You bet. How many ga-zillions trees die so Amazon can fill your orders.
Personally I question if anyone's individual effort does any good in the big picture. Its like thinking computers would save paper and in turn trees. You bet. How many ga-zillions trees die so Amazon can fill your orders.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 33,189
Likes: 1,646
From: Randolph, NJ
This has been circulating on the internet and e-mails for years. It's not new.
For all of the nostalgia in that e-mail, I doubt that you'd be able to find very many people, young or old, who would actually like to return to the "good old days". In fact, the "good old days" really weren't so good. I agree with the young clerk. We do bring our own reusable bags, buy whatever we can in recyclable containers, recycle as much as we can, and do whatever we can to protect the environment. I think that's a much better alternative to returning to the "good old days".
What the old lady doesn't say in her speech is that in those days cars were getting 12 to 14 miles per gallon , companies were dumping chemicals and PCB into our rivers, lakes, and streams, coal was being burned to produce electricity and heat homes creating smog the likes of which was never seen before, asbestos was considered a miracle mineral and used everywhere (insulation, brakes, stage curtains, fire proofing), and lead was used in paint, gasoline and water pipes, untreated sewerage was being released into the oceans and much more. The abuses of those days more than outweigh the environmental savings of using paper bags for book covers.
For all of the nostalgia in that e-mail, I doubt that you'd be able to find very many people, young or old, who would actually like to return to the "good old days". In fact, the "good old days" really weren't so good. I agree with the young clerk. We do bring our own reusable bags, buy whatever we can in recyclable containers, recycle as much as we can, and do whatever we can to protect the environment. I think that's a much better alternative to returning to the "good old days".
What the old lady doesn't say in her speech is that in those days cars were getting 12 to 14 miles per gallon , companies were dumping chemicals and PCB into our rivers, lakes, and streams, coal was being burned to produce electricity and heat homes creating smog the likes of which was never seen before, asbestos was considered a miracle mineral and used everywhere (insulation, brakes, stage curtains, fire proofing), and lead was used in paint, gasoline and water pipes, untreated sewerage was being released into the oceans and much more. The abuses of those days more than outweigh the environmental savings of using paper bags for book covers.
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 30,071
Likes: 5,505
From: Ontario Canada
This has been circulating on the internet and e-mails for years. It's not new.
For all of the nostalgia in that e-mail, I doubt that you'd be able to find very many people, young or old, who would actually like to return to the "good old days". In fact, the "good old days" really weren't so good. I agree with the young clerk. We do bring our own reusable bags, buy whatever we can in recyclable containers, recycle as much as we can, and do whatever we can to protect the environment. I think that's a much better alternative to returning to the "good old days".
What the old lady doesn't say in her speech is that in those days cars were getting 12 to 14 miles per gallon , companies were dumping chemicals and PCB into our rivers, lakes, and streams, coal was being burned to produce electricity and heat homes creating smog the likes of which was never seen before, asbestos was considered a miracle mineral and used everywhere (insulation, brakes, stage curtains, fire proofing), and lead was used in paint, gasoline and water pipes, untreated sewerage was being released into the oceans and much more. The abuses of those days more than outweigh the environmental savings of using paper bags for book covers.
For all of the nostalgia in that e-mail, I doubt that you'd be able to find very many people, young or old, who would actually like to return to the "good old days". In fact, the "good old days" really weren't so good. I agree with the young clerk. We do bring our own reusable bags, buy whatever we can in recyclable containers, recycle as much as we can, and do whatever we can to protect the environment. I think that's a much better alternative to returning to the "good old days".
What the old lady doesn't say in her speech is that in those days cars were getting 12 to 14 miles per gallon , companies were dumping chemicals and PCB into our rivers, lakes, and streams, coal was being burned to produce electricity and heat homes creating smog the likes of which was never seen before, asbestos was considered a miracle mineral and used everywhere (insulation, brakes, stage curtains, fire proofing), and lead was used in paint, gasoline and water pipes, untreated sewerage was being released into the oceans and much more. The abuses of those days more than outweigh the environmental savings of using paper bags for book covers.
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 34,131
Likes: 126
From: Canton, MA
The post was about how individuals and families consumed in the past versus how they live now. Consumption of power, be it electric or hydrocarbon has unquestionably increased over the decades. We may like living in this era better, but it isn't like we are reducing the discharges.
https://www.treehugger.com/fossil-fu...rs-graphs.html
https://www.treehugger.com/fossil-fu...rs-graphs.html