Going Green

Of course, we all are concerned about the environment and rightfully so. But it’s up to everyone in every generation to do their part. Laying blame is not usually the best approach to any situation that needs fixing. I think we need to learn to look at the solutions versus blaming others for the chaos we are in today—environment, politics, or whatever.

I say this because I am probably older than most of TMC readers, but some readers will be able to remember what I am referring to. This is what happened and why I am sharing this short rant!

A friend was checking out at the grocery store and the young cashier suggested to the elderly woman in front of her that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The old woman apologized 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 our 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, sterilized, and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.

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 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 scribblings.  Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown bag, but 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 a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

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.

Back then, we had one TV or radio in the house, not a TV (or tablet) in every room.  And the TV had a small screen (like a tablet) the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Ontario.

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.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new one, and we replaced the blades 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 $85,000 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 that the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then?

I feel much better now!! How about you?

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