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In the queue at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags 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. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He 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 recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
And when you look at the net energy and resources used I suspect it is better today. Glass bolttles are heavy. They cost energy to form. They cost energy to ship. The cost large amounts of energy and labor to clean and recycle.
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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.
That is an elective. The office building in which I spend the last 15 years had only a freight elevator because the guy who designed the building thought it better to walk the stairs. Later on we put in a passenger elevator for handicapped people mostly. It provided a second way to get up and down if the freight elevator was out. In the earlier however we simply did not allow handicapped people to work in regular facilities.
The cars of today of course pollute to a small percentage of those of 40 years ago and get vastly better mileage.
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Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We 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; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
The energy required to wash the baby diapers probably exceed that required for the throwaways. And note we did not wash the diapers. My mother had a diaper service that brought clean diapers and took away the soiled ones.
I would think hand-me-downs are almost as popular today as they were 40 years ago. Note that 40 years ago children did not go for hand-me-downs.
I would think that clothes lines are one of the few things we should bring back. But note they are confining and interfere with life. You can't run a load whenever you like if you need to hang on a line. And lines are not terribly practical in areas where it can stay cold for a week.
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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 a wadded up old newspaper 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.
And that one TV had far more power usage than a 50 inch flat. And the picture really stunk. And you spent half your time getting it to something that made sense.
Sorry but mixers were common 40 or 50 years ago. In fact at least into the 30s.
Bubble wrap is actually more effective and saves weight saving energy. And quite recyclable.
We did cut the grass by hand. That is one you got right.
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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.
There are lots of fountains and nothing that prevents water bottles from being refilled which is what we do. In fact we often freeze them for longer cold.
I still have my snorkel Shaeffer. But I use a felt tip...The process was messy and the pens would always fail at the wrong moment. I suspect it may even out on energy when one considers the nuisance time spent.
50 years ago we had left the world of true razors. Sharpening one was a life's work and required skill. The use of throwaway extends back at least into the thirties. And the razors of today are so much better than a straight razor there is no comparison.
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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 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
Actually no. We did walk or ride a bike to school. But kids today don't do that because the parents are afraid that their children will be molested or killed. Simply not an energy issue.
Electrical outlets are simply a rational convenience. Small numbers of outlets was simply dumb.
And we needed a mechanism to find the pizza joint. What we actually did was drive around in circles for an hour until we chanced on it or found a local who knew where it was.
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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?
You might want to share this with another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person.
Remember: Don't make old People mad.
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to **** us off.
I doubt I will share it as it makes us old farts look a little silly...
Yep'the feeel good genherationh while throwig trash on the side of the road.Look at now dirty the large cities are ;its sicking rteally in many I have visited.
And when you look at the net energy and resources used I suspect it is better today. Glass bolttles are heavy. They cost energy to form. They cost energy to ship. The cost large amounts of energy and labor to clean and recycle.
That is an elective. The office building in which I spend the last 15 years had only a freight elevator because the guy who designed the building thought it better to walk the stairs. Later on we put in a passenger elevator for handicapped people mostly. It provided a second way to get up and down if the freight elevator was out. In the earlier however we simply did not allow handicapped people to work in regular facilities.
The cars of today of course pollute to a small percentage of those of 40 years ago and get vastly better mileage.
The energy required to wash the baby diapers probably exceed that required for the throwaways. And note we did not wash the diapers. My mother had a diaper service that brought clean diapers and took away the soiled ones.
I would think hand-me-downs are almost as popular today as they were 40 years ago. Note that 40 years ago children did not go for hand-me-downs.
I would think that clothes lines are one of the few things we should bring back. But note they are confining and interfere with life. You can't run a load whenever you like if you need to hang on a line. And lines are not terribly practical in areas where it can stay cold for a week.
And that one TV had far more power usage than a 50 inch flat. And the picture really stunk. And you spent half your time getting it to something that made sense.
Sorry but mixers were common 40 or 50 years ago. In fact at least into the 30s.
Bubble wrap is actually more effective and saves weight saving energy. And quite recyclable.
We did cut the grass by hand. That is one you got right.
There are lots of fountains and nothing that prevents water bottles from being refilled which is what we do. In fact we often freeze them for longer cold.
I still have my snorkel Shaeffer. But I use a felt tip...The process was messy and the pens would always fail at the wrong moment. I suspect it may even out on energy when one considers the nuisance time spent.
50 years ago we had left the world of true razors. Sharpening one was a life's work and required skill. The use of throwaway extends back at least into the thirties. And the razors of today are so much better than a straight razor there is no comparison.
Actually no. We did walk or ride a bike to school. But kids today don't do that because the parents are afraid that their children will be molested or killed. Simply not an energy issue.
Electrical outlets are simply a rational convenience. Small numbers of outlets was simply dumb.
And we needed a mechanism to find the pizza joint. What we actually did was drive around in circles for an hour until we chanced on it or found a local who knew where it was.
I doubt I will share it as it makes us old farts look a little silly...
And when you look at the net energy and resources used I suspect it is better today. Glass bolttles are heavy. They cost energy to form. They cost energy to ship. The cost large amounts of energy and labor to clean and recycle.
The tragedy of plastics ruining our environment is monumental, not to mention the well documented health disaster (both the medical and economic aspects) of drinking and eating from plastics. The energy expended rests with the users, as it should be.
That is an elective. The office building in which I spend the last 15 years had only a freight elevator because the guy who designed the building thought it better to walk the stairs. Later on we put in a passenger elevator for handicapped people mostly. It provided a second way to get up and down if the freight elevator was out. In the earlier however we simply did not allow handicapped people to work in regular facilities.
The percentage of obese adults and children in this country is horrifying. That translates not only medically but economically, big time. Walking, taking the stairs instead of elevators saves energy. Do not get your point.
The cars of today of course pollute to a small percentage of those of 40 years ago and get vastly better mileage.
Not in aggregate use. Families of 40 years ago had one car per household; today there are 3 to 4 vehicles per household with many teens having their own cars. Plus in those years we did not drive all over kingdom come. We drove to religious service, the grocery store, and out for a Sunday drive. We did not hop in the car for every little need.
The energy required to wash the baby diapers probably exceed that required for the throwaways. And note we did not wash the diapers. My mother had a diaper service that brought clean diapers and took away the soiled ones.
Again, the energy expended lay with the users. I washed all my own diapers for my kids, did not have a service. This was my choice, not even to save money but because of the idea of filling our landfills with thousands upon thousands of plastic diapers in a boom population era. Your mother could have done her own if she had wanted to.
I would think hand-me-downs are almost as popular today as they were 40 years ago. Note that 40 years ago children did not go for hand-me-downs.
Hand me downs are not necessary. One can dress with new clothing at 1/3 the amount of clothing most people think they need. Most individual's closets today could each dress four people. In the 50s and 60s we didn't have overstuffed closets full of clothes, and very few housewives used clothes dryers. There were such things as wash days, planned around the weather. Even if it rained, the clothes got hung up on racks in the basement and in the winter the drying clothes added humidity to the houses being heated in cold climates. I have always had a dryer and can probably account for the minutes I have had to use it. The energy I use to hang up the clothes (raised four kids this way) I have saved muchos bucks on not having to pay for an exercise class.
I would think that clothes lines are one of the few things we should bring back. But note they are confining and interfere with life. You can't run a load whenever you like if you need to hang on a line. And lines are not terribly practical in areas where it can stay cold for a week.
I have a dryer and use it perhaps 3% of the washloads I do. Nothing confining about it. In the Northeast where half the year is winter, my hung wash in the basement works just fine, adding needed humidity to the hot air generated by the heating system. Interfere with life? I don't think so.
And that one TV had far more power usage than a 50 inch flat. And the picture really stunk. And you spent half your time getting it to something that made sense.
Never had a problem with reception with the old TV. Just recently got a flat screen and the resolution is nothing to write home about. We watched TV years ago in the evening. There was one set only, in the living room. Today there's a TV in every room of the house, even in the nursery. Geez.
In the queue at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags 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. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
He 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 recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
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 throw-away kind. We 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; 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 a wadded up old newspaper 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 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 we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?
You might want to share this with another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person.
Remember: Don't make old People mad.
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to **** us off.
Someone sent this to me a couple of years ago. I sent it out to friends. One of my younger friends disputed almost every point. Different readers, different point of views.
And when you look at the net energy and resources used I suspect it is better today. Glass bolttles are heavy. They cost energy to form. They cost energy to ship. The cost large amounts of energy and labor to clean and recycle.
That is an elective. The office building in which I spend the last 15 years had only a freight elevator because the guy who designed the building thought it better to walk the stairs. Later on we put in a passenger elevator for handicapped people mostly. It provided a second way to get up and down if the freight elevator was out. In the earlier however we simply did not allow handicapped people to work in regular facilities.
The cars of today of course pollute to a small percentage of those of 40 years ago and get vastly better mileage.
The energy required to wash the baby diapers probably exceed that required for the throwaways. And note we did not wash the diapers. My mother had a diaper service that brought clean diapers and took away the soiled ones.
I would think hand-me-downs are almost as popular today as they were 40 years ago. Note that 40 years ago children did not go for hand-me-downs.
I would think that clothes lines are one of the few things we should bring back. But note they are confining and interfere with life. You can't run a load whenever you like if you need to hang on a line. And lines are not terribly practical in areas where it can stay cold for a week.
And that one TV had far more power usage than a 50 inch flat. And the picture really stunk. And you spent half your time getting it to something that made sense.
Sorry but mixers were common 40 or 50 years ago. In fact at least into the 30s.
Bubble wrap is actually more effective and saves weight saving energy. And quite recyclable.
We did cut the grass by hand. That is one you got right.
There are lots of fountains and nothing that prevents water bottles from being refilled which is what we do. In fact we often freeze them for longer cold.
I still have my snorkel Shaeffer. But I use a felt tip...The process was messy and the pens would always fail at the wrong moment. I suspect it may even out on energy when one considers the nuisance time spent.
50 years ago we had left the world of true razors. Sharpening one was a life's work and required skill. The use of throwaway extends back at least into the thirties. And the razors of today are so much better than a straight razor there is no comparison.
Actually no. We did walk or ride a bike to school. But kids today don't do that because the parents are afraid that their children will be molested or killed. Simply not an energy issue.
Electrical outlets are simply a rational convenience. Small numbers of outlets was simply dumb.
And we needed a mechanism to find the pizza joint. What we actually did was drive around in circles for an hour until we chanced on it or found a local who knew where it was.
I doubt I will share it as it makes us old farts look a little silly...
::::sigh:::: There's one in every crowd and always 10% who don't get the word!
By the way, the Yellow Pages saved a lot of needless driving around. Remember "Let your fingers do the walking?" or are you too young?
....I would think that clothes lines are one of the few things we should bring back. But note they are confining and interfere with life. You can't run a load whenever you like if you need to hang on a line. And lines are not terribly practical in areas where it can stay cold for a week...
I grew up in a cold climate, and we hung our clothes out regardless of the cold. Sheets that have dried by freezing solid on the line--nothing smelled so sweet!
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....Actually no. We did walk or ride a bike to school. But kids today don't do that because the parents are afraid that their children will be molested or killed. Simply not an energy issue...
I don't think safety is the whole story. And kids get chauffeured everywhere these days, regardless of location or safety. Kids actually went outside and played back then, instead of playing video games. Think of the energy *that* would save!
My grandmother told me that when she was raising her babies it was totally normal and acceptable to just chuck trash out the car window. She would change diapers and chuck them out the window while grandpa drove!
So one day they are driving from Texas to California with 5 babies in the car - no car seats of course back then, either lol - and baby's diaper needs changing. So grandma changes the diaper and chucks the diaper out the window. Uh oh!! Somebody had a convertible with the top down!
My grandmother told me that when she was raising her babies it was totally normal and acceptable to just chuck trash out the car window. She would change diapers and chuck them out the window while grandpa drove!
So one day they are driving from Texas to California with 5 babies in the car - no car seats of course back then, either lol - and baby's diaper needs changing. So grandma changes the diaper and chucks the diaper out the window. Uh oh!! Somebody had a convertible with the top down!
Sorry, found this post puzzling as I can't figure out a time frame.
Had my older son in cloth diapers, never would have thrown one away...
Disposables were not all that common, as they are today. Or was it just a joke?
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as I can't figure out a time frame. 
