The green thing

Thread Starter

studiot

Joined Nov 9, 2007
4,998
Some here might like this tale.

In the line at the supermarket, the cashier told the older woman that she should
bring her own grocery bag because 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."

The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. The former generation did not care
enough to save our environment."

She was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their milk bottles, soft drink bottles and beer bottles
to the shop. The shop sent them back to the factory to be washed and sterilized
and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. They were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's 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 was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's nappies because they didn't have the throw-away
kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in a 220 volt energy gobbling machine -
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 handkerchief, not a screen the size of a
cricket pitch. 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 a wadded up old newspaper to cushion
it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. They didn't have air conditioning or
electric stoves with self cleaning ovens. They didn't have battery operated toys,
computers, or telephones.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn fuel just to cut the lawn. They
used a push mower that ran on human power. They used hand operated clippers to
trim the shrubs. 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 glass filled from the tap when they were thirsty instead of
using a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled their
writing 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 walked or took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or
rode the school bus instead of turning their mums 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.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were
just because they didn't have the green thing back then?
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
Back to the good old day's,
cut down all the tree's for log cabins.
Heat with the coal stove's.
People that didn't smoke breathed
the minute fiber's of the cotton mills.
Don't forget the leaded gas and D.D.T.
The good ole days.
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
Ahh,the Alps and high places that man and machine can't
get to. Guys I am thinkings of all these Beauiful high places.
All our yodlers can name the places.The mountain Goat.
 

steveb

Joined Jul 3, 2008
2,436
Some here might like this tale.
Yes, I like it. Good point!

I like to tell people about my Great Grandfather who's job it was to tear down buildings. In those days, such a person would have to pay to tear the building down. He would make a bid, along with other competitors, and the highest bid would win the right to tear down the building.

Sounds crazy by today's standards because now demolition companies get big bucks to tear down buildings. They don't have to pay to do it!

The difference is that in those days, my Great Grandfather would take every board, nail, screw and brick and save it as his profit. He would then resell most of it, and even use some for himself.

Because of this reality back then, my Grandfather (his son) used to save everything including old nails. He taught me how to straighten any nail or to even hammer in a bent one if need be.

Clearly, my Great Grandfather didn't have the green thing back then.
 
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retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
She should have answered:

We didn't support the green thing then because we were trying to destroy the world so a generation of all-talker no-actioners wouldn't be born.....I guess we didn't try hard enough!
 

#12

Joined Nov 30, 2010
18,224
I didn't have the green thing in my day either. When I wanted a bath, I had to take the bucket down to the spring and carry it back up the hill myself. If I wanted a warm bath, I waited until the bucket of water got to room temperature. But we didn't have the green thing back then.
 

Georacer

Joined Nov 25, 2009
5,182
The only time in the past I think pollution might be heavier than a following period, could be the industrial revolution in Britain. Those charcoal smoke fogs sitting over everything couldn't be very good for your health.

I think the life expectancy for the workers back then was at about 38 years old.

In the middle ages in Europe it was 32 if I recall correctly, but that's not because of environmental issues.
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
I would think the diseases in the middle ages were "enviromental" issues. Certainly not in the same context "enviromental issues" in the contemporary. The enviroment is such a broad catagory.
 

Georacer

Joined Nov 25, 2009
5,182
I categorize non-environmental as anything that deviates from the state that the environment tends to establish if let alone.

Charcoal fog isn't natural. Plagues and diseases are.
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
@ Georacer,have you ever heard of the "Orkin era" Go away
fast,stay long,come back slow.I guess that was the cure for
the plague. They would go away,then send someone back,
If they returned safely the others could return. I have wondered
about the word Orkin,that the name of a large pest control
company. Maybe some one knows more. Post the picture you
like with the beard,I like to connect faces with knowlege,the beard
makes you look older the best I can remember.
 

Georacer

Joined Nov 25, 2009
5,182
Sorry, but I don't like to connect personal data directly to me. I like to emphasize on internet anonymity.

I will post it in a private album, though, since you ask for it, for easy access.
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
I like to keep privacy too. I remember seeing a picture.If its part of
your album thats ok. My picture don't give to much,just man and ocean.
Your avartar is that a greek soldier,it has always commanded attention.
 
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Audioguru

Joined Dec 20, 2007
11,248
Lately when I smell a very strong stink on the road I know that there is an old car from the '60ies or a new car modified by a kid (the pollution controls were removed) ahead of me.

So new cars must be green.

Diesel school buses stink and have a black cloud for exhaust. Why aren't they green?
 
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