9 replies to this topic

[gofish]

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The 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 f or 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 truly 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 scribblings. 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 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.
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. 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 young person.

[Deerslayer]

Love it

[MomM]

Our parents and grandparents were the original recyclers.

[Annarchy]

Nice rebuttal.

[lumabean]

[Philbe]

Q: How many politicians does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to assure the public that everything possible is being done while the other screws it into a water faucet.

[Mt_Rider]

I'll bet most of us here are "re-purposing" and recycling and using durable instead of disposable. It's probably the single-most way in which all of us find those extra dollars so we can buy preps.

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Who of us doesn't wish to tread lightly on this planet. However, pseudo-green movement is for children without full cognitive development in their brain synapses.... .....which is biologically supposed to be completed at around 21 yrs of age. Sociological and ideological maturation does not automatically follow, however. Experience is usually needed to ensure complete adult mental processes. A distressing number of are refusing this process however.... As we already know....


There has developed a problem with the immature responses to the 'Save The Planet' movement that could have alarming consequences for the rest of us. There is a seriously demented movement to SaveThePlanet at the drastic expense of humankind. It's not even a new movement, which means it's had a chance to get a good foothold in many areas. Decades ago, I began to see it pop up as a ridiculous opinion from quasi-New Age folks and folks who jump on any bandwagon that's handing out 'candy'. So it was easy to ignore as foolish talk from frivolous, shallow-thinking people. ........ Apparently it was not. These idiots are still there and they are serious!

MtRider

[out_of_the_ordinary]

I'll bet most of us here are "re-purposing" and recycling and using durable instead of disposable. It's probably the single-most way in which all of us find those extra dollars so we can buy preps.

---------------

Who of us doesn't wish to tread lightly on this planet. However, pseudo-green movement is for children without full cognitive development in their brain synapses.... .....which is biologically supposed to be completed at around 21 yrs of age. Sociological and ideological maturation does not automatically follow, however. Experience is usually needed to ensure complete adult mental processes. A distressing number of are refusing this process however.... As we already know....


There has developed a problem with the immature responses to the 'Save The Planet' movement that could have alarming consequences for the rest of us. There is a seriously demented movement to SaveThePlanet at the drastic expense of humankind. It's not even a new movement, which means it's had a chance to get a good foothold in many areas. Decades ago, I began to see it pop up as a ridiculous opinion from quasi-New Age folks and folks who jump on any bandwagon that's handing out 'candy'. So it was easy to ignore as foolish talk from frivolous, shallow-thinking people. ........ Apparently it was not. These idiots are still there and they are serious!

MtRider

Green is Red.

[Cat]

Drives me NUTS - Make electric cars (that don't work) to save oil, never understanding that to PRODUCE that electricity takes much MORE than it saves. In some countries they control the amount of electricity and the time you can use it. Talk about government control...

"Save the planet", but continue to produce more and more and MORE throw-away products.

One of my personal pet peeves - When I worked at Dairy Queen, we used metal collars that were kept in a sanitary water mixture to re-use over and over. NOW they use thick PAPER collars that must be THROWN AWAY after one use! The workers say they fill up the trash bags and make it more difficult to handle their trash. Just ONE example among millions...

[Mt_Rider]

In some countries they control the amount of electricity and the time you can use it. Talk about government control...

You have said the truth of the matter, Cat. It isn't about 'save the planet'. It is ALLLLLLLL about CONTROL. The green stuff is a red herring [diversionary tactic] and the uninformed Greenies are our proverbial Useful Idiots. OBVIOUSLY there are many folks who are informed and genuinely concerned/proactive about conservation. Those folks include those of us who use durable instead of disposable. Cost effective AND save the natural resources. Just enough legitamacy to push the brainless into a big emotion-driven 'movement'. With all that emotion, the 'movement' does not even have to be consistent. Who'd notice?

Meanwhile, certainly no one will notice what the OTHER hand is doing. Setting out REGULATIONS that constrict business, cause unnecessary expense to the general public, and further impinge on liberties in general. All sung to the tune of 'Save the Planet'.......

I got a bridge in Brooklyn.....


Follow the money and, more importantly, follow the regulations.


MtRider \\\ .....gonna hafta use disposable spoons to scoop ice cream soon, right? And HOW MUCH do I pay for an icecream cone? \\\

Edited by Mt_Rider, 21 November 2012 - 12:48 PM.