going "green"

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For those addicted to all things "green," here is something I received from a friend in email today:

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 apologized 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, 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 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 diapers because they didn't have

the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy

gobbling machine burning up 220 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 state of Montana. 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 gasoline 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 fountain 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 streetcar or a bus and kids rode their

bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their

moms 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?