Being Green

[FishingCop]

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't 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."

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 scribbling's. 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 a300-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 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 . 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 in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost many times more than 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 set us off... especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smart something who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much. SO TRUE !

 

[pool4shark]

Lots of great points in that post. Unfortunately, most of them apply to my parents' generation more than my own. I remember the clothes hanging on a line, riding bicycles everywhere I needed to go, one family TV, returnable bottles, pushing our rotary lawn mower, and paper-bag book covers as a kid. I'm 64, so I'm no puppy. As adults, my generation has been and continues to be big poluters and extremely wasteful. We deserve a scolding and then some, whether it comes from a kid with tatoos and a ring in her nose or not.

We are definitely better at math, for what it's worth. We should have been keeping score.
Sam

 

[ccm]

I'm young here. Early twenty's but I still picked up on a lot of this from my grandparents and family. I try to reuse and recycle what I can & I even found a use for those plastic grocery bags ( great packaging material & good boat trash sacks ). I still save all the old nails & screws in old pickle jars. I've turned several old discarded water coolers into minnow coolers to keep my bait alive. As the youngest grandchild in the family #26, I got a lot of hand-me- downs. I admire the older generation especially my grandparents, the generation who survived the depression, the dustbowl, and went off to fight a world war. I still remember my grandfather telling me how he used to trap skunks and sell their fur to help feed the family. He came a long way from that west Texas dustbowl to the U.S. military, to Working in the defense industry, NASA ( he put the window in the first Gemini) and eventually becoming a preacher. I guess the problem with some of my generation is that to many of us take things for granted and don't realize how hard the generations before us had to work and sacrifice to get to where we are now. PLEASE DONT JUDGE THE REST OF US BY HOW JUST A FEW OF US ACT. But feel free to put those few in their place when they deserve it.

 

[headduck]

We want lots of cheap stuff, and then more stuff to replace that recently purchased stuff.

Once we cure our insatiable demand for ever new throw away goods, the green thing is much easier.

 

[overboard]

Interesting post, I remember all of everything mentioned, we may have created SOME of the problems, but in recent times modern convenience has created a lot more.
Plastics are a huge problem as well as everything using batteries, I never Imagined that I would need the amount of small batteries that I use to power various modern technology.

 

[Bantou]

Personally, I'd be happy if we went back to a lot of that stuff. I prefer clothes dried on a line (especially towels and sheets), everything tastes better coming out of a glass bottle, paper grocery bags are infinitely better than plastic and are biodegradable... sometimes the old ways are the best ways.

 

[OldSailor85]

Don't lump all us "old people" together. Some of us were trained by depression survivors.

I still have the leather jacket my future wife bought me in 1980 and my Tony Lama Black Label boots.

I'm wearing my father's M65 field jacket and a 40-year old Cooper A-2.

I keep my vehicles for well over a decade and take my own shopping bag to ALDI.

My boat is mid-80s vintage.

And we re-use the cheap plastic bags from the grocery store.

 

[Bantou]

Don't lump all us "old people" together. Some of us were trained by depression survivors.

I still have the leather jacket my future wife bought me in 1980 and my Tony Lama Black Label boots.

I'm wearing my father's M65 field jacket and a 40-year old Cooper A-2.

I keep my vehicles for well over a decade and take my own shopping bag to ALDI.

My boat is mid-80s vintage.

And we re-use the cheap plastic bags from the grocery store.

I think a big part of today’s disposable economy is tied to the post-WWII economic boom. As a whole, the generations from Gen-X down (myself included) did not receive that training or have those experiences. We grew up in a world where every need, and just about every want, was readily available. When you figure in the credit card boom that took off at about the same time, it’s no wonder that just about everything is viewed as replaceable these days.

Edit to add: I’m starting to see a subtle shift back towards a preference for durable goods and self-reliance though, especially from millennials and gen-z. With the economy being what it has post COVID, and the amount of college loan debt; I think my generation and under are starting to realize it’s actually cheaper to spend a little more up front for something that lasts and can easily be repaired than to have to replace something cheaper every couple of years.

 

[Ldmoss]

Personally, I'd be happy if we went back to a lot of that stuff. I prefer clothes dried on a line (especially towels and sheets), everything tastes better coming out of a glass bottle, paper grocery bags are infinitely better than plastic and are biodegradable... sometimes the old ways are the best ways.

Amen!

 

[LDUBS]

Personally, I'd be happy if we went back to a lot of that stuff. I prefer clothes dried on a line (especially towels and sheets)

I agree with you. As long as someone else is doing the laundry!

 

[Crazyboat]

Don't lump all us "old people" together. Some of us were trained by depression survivors.

I still have the leather jacket my future wife bought me in 1980 and my Tony Lama Black Label boots.

I'm wearing my father's M65 field jacket and a 40-year old Cooper A-2.

I keep my vehicles for well over a decade and take my own shopping bag to ALDI.

My boat is mid-80s vintage.

And we re-use the cheap plastic bags from the grocery store.

Yup, my parents born in 24 and 30 respectively, we learned all the lessons they lived. Much better off for it too.

 

[Bantou]

I agree with you. As long as someone else is doing the laundry!

I'd rather do laundry on a line than with a dryer personally, at least in the summer. I learned as a bachelor that clothes dry faster in the Texas summer sun than in a dryer. I can usually do laundry with a line in half the time it takes with a dryer, which means more time for fishing lol.

 

[airshot]

Don't lump all us "old people" together. Some of us were trained by depression survivors.

I still have the leather jacket my future wife bought me in 1980 and my Tony Lama Black Label boots.

I'm wearing my father's M65 field jacket and a 40-year old Cooper A-2.

I keep my vehicles for well over a decade and take my own shopping bag to ALDI.

My boat is mid-80s vintage.

And we re-use the cheap plastic bags from the grocery store.

And many if us older folks just understand that money doesn't grow on trees !
My wife and I worked hard for our family and spent responsibly and now we can retire comfortably. We rarely bought new vehichels, typically found very nice used to get away from new depriciation. By taking care of our stuff, we often resold for as much as we paid for the stuff. When I fish, I don't waste money on ice, instead we freeze our used water bottles after refilling. The thin wall makes them colder than commercial ice paks and we can refreeze numerous times before they wear thru. Plastic shopping bags make great waste basket liners and trash containers for vehicle and boat. Lots of money to be saved if a person wants to and usually takes less effort then being waste full ! Just lots of common sense........

 

[LDUBS]

I'd rather do laundry on a line than with a dryer personally, at least in the summer. I learned as a bachelor that clothes dry faster in the Texas summer sun than in a dryer. I can usually do laundry with a line in half the time it takes with a dryer, which means more time for fishing lol.

Thanks - my intent was a good natured joke. Sometimes I'm the only one who chuckles.

 

[LDUBS]

And many if us older folks just understand that money doesn't grow on trees !
My wife and I worked hard for our family and spent responsibly and now we can retire comfortably. We rarely bought new vehichels, typically found very nice used to get away from new depriciation. By taking care of our stuff, we often resold for as much as we paid for the stuff. When I fish, I don't waste money on ice, instead we freeze our used water bottles after refilling. The thin wall makes them colder than commercial ice paks and we can refreeze numerous times before they wear thru. Plastic shopping bags make great waste basket liners and trash containers for vehicle and boat. Lots of money to be saved if a person wants to and usually takes less effort then being waste full ! Just lots of common sense........

What you do with the plastic bottles I do with a half gallon leftover root beer "bag" from KFC. The thing works great and has held up for over a year.

 

[Bantou]

Thanks - my intent was a good natured joke. Sometimes I'm the only one who chuckles.

It's probably my fault. I sometimes struggle to pick up on social cues in person, let alone online.

 

[LDUBS]

It's probably my fault. I sometimes struggle to pick up on social cues in person, let alone online.

No worries. That makes two of us. haha.