We Didn't Have Green Back Then......

EppyGA

EppyGA

Touchdown! Greaser!
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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 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 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?
 
Last year, I told a friend, who drives an Prius and who repeatedly insinuated that I did not appear to care about the environment, that if he did not STFU, I would get a Hummer... I am sick and tired about people forcing their pet believes on those in their surroundings.
 
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We did not need a "GREEN" policy back then, every thing had value, the depression generation did't throw any thing away.
 
EppyGA said:
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 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 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?
Click to expand...

There was a time when people slew animals with spears and wore their skins for clothing. Doesn't make them "green", just technologically unsophisticated. You know one thing that they had in common with us? They still made garbage.

Nostalgia just isn't like it used to be.
 
So, do we all just not get enough cutesy little stories forwarded to them via email? I know I do.
 
All right.... What did the Sac Arrow do that was green today?

1. Refilled the disposable water bottle. (The Sac usually gets about a month out of them and then recycles them when gnarly)

2. Used a towel instead of dispensed paper towels to clean off sweaty gym equipment.

3. Rode the motorcycle to work today. 50 mpg trumps 20 mpg.

4. Ate fish for lunch today, thereby dispacing the carbon positive beef that the Sac Arrow would have eaten instead.

5. Edited a report without printing out a hard copy.

6. Sent a letter via PDF and email vs. printing it out and mailing it.

Probably a few other things too but they escape me right now.
 
The Jack was green this morning too.

1) Walked to the beach.

2) Used the sun to dry off after the swim.

3) This afternoon I plan to use the wind to move the boat. :D
 
And so begins the quest of Sac, the Frustrated Environmentalist.
Sac Arrow said:
All right.... What did the Sac Arrow do that was green today?

2. Used a towel instead of dispensed paper towels to clean off sweaty gym equipment.
Click to expand...

Paper is somewhat biodegradable and more often sourced from "sustainable forest" (whatever that really means). By using a towel how much waste water is generated while laundering it in addition to the energy used? Did you make sure your electricity is from a green source?:lol:

3. Rode the motorcycle to work today. 50 mpg trumps 20 mpg.
Click to expand...
... while creating far more smog than the average car.

Probably a few other things too but they escape me right now.
Click to expand...
Problem is that whatever we do invariably harms nature somehow. Build a windmill, kill some birds. Build a dam and kill some fish and disrupt the ecology downstream by blocking silt from flowing. It's a no win.
 
Pi1otguy said:
Problem is that whatever we do invariably harms nature somehow. Build a windmill, kill some birds. Build a dam and kill some fish and disrupt the ecology downstream by blocking silt from flowing. It's a no win.
Click to expand...
No, everybody wins. The negligibly small numbers of dead birds and fish provide food for plants and animals. Circle of life and all that. And we get electricity, recreation and flood control out of the deal.
 
The only truly green way to live is to kill yourself.... with a natural free range sharpened stick.
 
EppyGA said:
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 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 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?
Click to expand...

Ok, you apparently don't realize how much smog cars and factories produced back in the day. I grew up in Orange County, CA and the air is noticeably cleaner than it was in the 70's. maybe you rode your bike (because you were a kid), but your parents drove a car with considerably less emissions control and the industrial impact to the environment was huge. Today's hybrid puts out a mere fraction of the emissions of that 'Cuda you cruised in in high school. In the 60's, my family always had at least 2 or 3 cars and I understand, in the Midwest, the cars per capita, was much higher. Maybe we only had one TV, but that baby was running tubes and sucking down power. Do you really think you were greener? Heck, James Watt was in charge of environmental policy...
 
I recycled about a gallon of coffee today and sent it on downstream to y'all via my kidneys.
 
I think Germany has it down pat when it comes to being green. Not only are their strides toward cleaner sources of power giant and productive, but they also implement a ridiculous and tedious but very clean recycling method. They sort their trash into four different bins, and just about everything is recycled somehow. All plastic and glass beer/soda bottles are sent out to wash every day and reused numerous times. You're charged for any bags you get at the grocery store. Etc. It's nice, and their country is super clean to boot!

That will never happen here, but I'm glad to see us taking steps in the right direction. Here in Montgomery County MD, they recently implemented a new bag tax of a nickle per plastic bag. It's nice. I can't tell you how many times in the past I've been given this withering, wrinkly annoying bag to carry a pack of gum. Hell, people in NC put my six pack in a bag to carry it out of the store! The six pack has a handle so I can carry it! Geez...

Anyway, just because you use plastic bags doesn't mean you're not "green." I've seen plenty of people use the canvas bags and then jump in a Range Rover to drive a block down the street.

I've forgotten what my point was.

denverpilot said:
I recycled about a gallon of coffee today and sent it on downstream to y'all via my kidneys.
Click to expand...

Bahahaha
 
Maybe we only had one TV, but that baby was running tubes and sucking down power.
Click to expand...

Agreed however I wonder about how the new stuff balances out with that? Those power hungry tv used x watts while it was turned on and zero watts when off. Nowadays, houses have 2-5 tv's, stereo, a computer or three, dvd players, satellite or whatever tv devices, cellphone chargers, battery chargers, coffee makers, printers, wireless internet and whatever else...then when those things are turned off, they're not really off, they're actually in low power standby mode, not actually fully off.

So which uses more total power? One ancient tv run for 2 hours a day or the bazillion contraptions in a house today that run 24/7/365+? Just wondering. Yea, one watt per day isn't a lot however when there are 100 of the things laying around on all the time that adds up.


denverpilot said:
I recycled about a gallon of coffee today and sent it on downstream to y'all via my kidneys.
Click to expand...

The water we flush today, they drink tomorrow. ;->


I get a kick out of the water conservation people. I walked into the college where I worked a while back on green day...I had a few extra minutes and didn't resist when they chased me down preaching their gospel. The water people were on a witch hunt. According to them you use 13-25 gallons of water a day per person. I just let them go on about it for a while. I told them I have a 50 gallon water tank and it takes 2-3 weeks for me to go through it and it's seldom empty when I refill. The power conservation people were less successful...
Yea, I'm an exception to the rule just because of how I live (you do it this way or you won't be able to function) however it's amusing when they try to put me on their bonfire.
 
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OMFG do I have a green story to tell today!

So like I was cleaning out the fridge last night in preparation for Thanksgiving (needed someplace to put a turkey) and I came across a brick of jack cheese that was dated sometime in January. Even though it was still sealed in the wrap, it was COMPLETELY green!

I also checked the mileage in the motorcycle. A little over 5,000 miles since the last oil change. I said "Naa, let's go 6,000. That would be the green thing to do."

(Well plus Motul 300V full synthetic is running like sixty bucks for a four liter jug, that and the Sac Arrow is lazy. By the way it has a nice green color too.)
 
Sac Arrow said:
OMFG do I have a green story to tell today!

So like I was cleaning out the fridge last night in preparation for Thanksgiving (needed someplace to put a turkey) and I came across a brick of jack cheese that was dated sometime in January. Even though it was still sealed in the wrap, it was COMPLETELY green!
Click to expand...


LOL




...Did you eat it?
 
Herman vanOoijen said:
Last year, I told a friend, who drives an Prius and who repeatedly insinuated that I did not appear to care about the environment, that if he did not STFU, I would get a Hummer... I am sick and tired about people forcing their pet believes on those in their surroundings.
Click to expand...

Funny how we can do a ton of things to save energy and resources, but if we don't buy their global warming agenda hook, line, and sinker, we are the enemy deniers. The green movement is not about saving the environment, it's about political control.
 
Accomplishing the same thing more efficiently, energy independence, cheaper energy, and reducing waste are things I think everyone is for. Most of that results in saving money over the long haul.

I think if the greenies focused on this idea of having the same things in life but cheaper and more efficient, they might get somewhere. Instead they choose to be hostile and uncompromising. Try giving people a better choice, that would actually get somewhere.
 
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