They were not Green

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Steve the Gas

They were not Green

Post by Steve the Gas »

Ain't it a shame that WE were not GREEN when we were kids?

In the line at the store, 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 apologised to him 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."

He 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 store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilised and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really 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 an energy gobbling machine burning up 240 volts - 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 the wall ..
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.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. 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 bubbler when they were thirsty instead of using a cup or 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 took the train or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked 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 computerised 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?
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milli
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Re: They were not Green

Post by milli »

Well said Steve , )t'
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lizziedoggarden
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Re: They were not Green

Post by lizziedoggarden »

Very true )t'
Don't dream it, BE it....


Am looking forward to welcoming Sunny Clucker to Woodbridge Suffolk!!!!!
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perchy
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Re: They were not Green

Post by perchy »

Pity you were not in the queue, I remember all of that yike*
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p.penn
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Re: They were not Green

Post by p.penn »

Me too. :oops:
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perchy
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Re: They were not Green

Post by perchy »

p.penn wrote:Me too. :oops:

{hug}
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kitla
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Re: They were not Green

Post by kitla »

they didn't have the green thing back then

sorry but I couldnt help singing this bit, sounds like the chorus to a song!

- you're right of course, I grew up in homeade clothes that got patched instead
of replaced & if electric things broke my dad took them to the little repair shop
in town...and we were quite well off!
"He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals."
--Immanuel Kant
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madmum
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Re: They were not Green

Post by madmum »

Even i remember things like that Steve )t'
If you always do what you always do ,you will always get what you have always got!
LittleBrownFrog

Re: They were not Green

Post by LittleBrownFrog »

madmum wrote:Even i remember things like that Steve )t'

And me.

My children flat-out refuse to believe that we used to get money back if we returned bottles to the shops!
FRUGAL MASTER
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Re: They were not Green

Post by FRUGAL MASTER »

They used to have the price on the lid , either 5p or 10p , think it was R whites bottles.....R WHITES , R WHITES LEMONADE .......... :-D
Maggie1

Re: They were not Green

Post by Maggie1 »

We used to go round building sites and collect all the bottles and take them back to the shop get our money back. Then we went to the chip shop and bought chips and asked for bits (bits of batter) and they were given free, now you have to pay for them.
We would go to the bakers and buy a loaf and it was wrapped in a big sheet of tissue (Not a plastic bag) and when it got home Mum would cut the tissue up for loo paper. We also used the tissue that was wrapped round fruit.
You would go to the butcher and ask for bones (which were given free) and Mum would cook them up into a stew and then do them again for stock.
There was only 1 car in our road and that was owned by a milkman/bookies runner so we walked everywhere. When we got home we ate everything on our plate or else we didn't eat. AND we had to ask to leave the table. We were NEVER allowed to come home and raid the fridge and if we was thirsty, as Mum would say there's plenty of water in the tap.
It seemed everybody had a job, sometimes 2 so there was no reason to stay at home watching the telly. (Well we didn't have a telly) My parents used to pay weekly into a slate club so that if Dad was off sick the slate club paid out.
Dad used to catch prawns and shoot rabbits (would you believe he kept his gun in his unlocked tool box on the allotment) then he would go round houses and sell them.
Things were different then
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Panteg Produce
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Re: They were not Green

Post by Panteg Produce »

)t'

Spot on steve!


:-D
Live a simple life and be happy , Rich.
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baileysgnasha
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Re: They were not Green

Post by baileysgnasha »

Very well said Steve, I`ll admit I`ve never thought of it like that but everything you say is spot on ! )t'
Andrea- Sunny Clucker fan awaiting her arrival in Kettering,Northamptonshire.
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Mallard
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Re: They were not Green

Post by Mallard »

)t' The good ole days!
In another life I remember nicking two or three beer bottles from the back of the village pub and getting money back at the front door! {warn}
I also remember not being able to sit down when I was eventually rumbled! yike*
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Sunny B
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Re: They were not Green

Post by Sunny B »

So true, Steve. We may have "the green thing" now, but we're probably the most wateful generation that ever lived.
Missing my little friend Sunny Clucker
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