Being Green...

Discussion in 'The Muppet Show' started by Marley Farley, Sep 12, 2012.

  1. Marley Farley

    Marley Farley Affable Admin! Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    Messages:
    30,588
    Occupation:
    Grandmother Gardener Councillor Homemaker
    Location:
    Under the Edge Zone 8b
    Ratings:
    +14,130
    Being Green

    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 truely 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 smartass young person.

    We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off. :snork:
    [​IMG]
     
    • Like Like x 8
    • "M"

      "M" Total Gardener

      Joined:
      Aug 11, 2012
      Messages:
      18,607
      Location:
      The Garden of England
      Ratings:
      +31,888
      Very US based, but, equally, very, very true, no matter where you come from!!

      I see the irony though: the USA was the biggest "provider" of "convenience" goods in their day (latterly Asia).

      I recall the day my mother came home from a shopping trip (not for *us* but for the elderly people she worked with) and commented how M&S were now selling "bread n butter pudding". She was aghast!! "They are selling foods made from 'leftovers'!? :dunno: They'll be selling corned beef hash next :nonofinger: "

      :heehee: Erm, yup!

      And always remember: the "youth" will always think they invented sex :dbgrtmb:
       
      • Like Like x 2
      • clueless1

        clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

        Joined:
        Jan 8, 2008
        Messages:
        17,778
        Gender:
        Male
        Location:
        Here
        Ratings:
        +19,601
        Its all true, but just a tiny bit flawed.

        I can remember as a young kid being a passenger in my dad's car as we drove past all the works to get anywhere. Seeing all the clouds of filth spewing forth from the many chimneys. I also remember being taught at school that the industry is ok because the chimneys were tall enough so that all the fumes just blew away.

        Where to? I know the ordinary folks of bygone generations can't be blamed. They all had to make a living, and people didn't have as much voice back then (no internet, no global communications for the masses etc), but I do wonder how come nobody ever stopped to ponder the question, where do the fumes blow away to?
         
      • Phil A

        Phil A Guest

        Ratings:
        +0
        We found that out in the 70's & 80's when huge swathes of Northern European Forests started to die off:sad:
         
        • Like Like x 1
        • "M"

          "M" Total Gardener

          Joined:
          Aug 11, 2012
          Messages:
          18,607
          Location:
          The Garden of England
          Ratings:
          +31,888
          But, your argument does not take account of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI); of which, the post war UK was heavily subscribed by the US and partly due to the hold the US had over the UK due to war debts.

          The *real* question is not, "Where do those fumes go to", but, who invested in those fumes in the first place? And that is a part of the cradle-to-grave argument of Corporate Social Responsibility.

          It is also one of the major arguments in current "Greenhouse Gases" thinking; each country/area is alloted a quota of "emissions" by the WTO; it is possible for companies to set up business in areas/countries and "trade" their greenhouse gases consumption to counterbalance their home country "allocation".

          Any "flaw" in thinking is when people generally attribute fumes/greenhouse gases to a localised level yet not addressing the global question of "where do the fumes go?". Currently, the bigger question has to be: "who takes responsibility for *where* the fumes are permitted to go" :dbgrtmb: In other words: just because a company has a bottom line income, which can exceed that of a small country's GPR, should they be permitted to abuse that small countries "green house gas allowance" simply due to FDI?

          It's an ethical dilema: but one which ultimately affects us all!
           
        • clueless1

          clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

          Joined:
          Jan 8, 2008
          Messages:
          17,778
          Gender:
          Male
          Location:
          Here
          Ratings:
          +19,601
          That's what I meant. At the same school, by the same teachers, examples of things I was taught include:

          * The world is a roughly spherical object surrounded by a thin layer of atmosphere, then vacuum.
          * Gravity ordinarily prevents anything leaving the planet.
          * The planet has a finite size
          * Fumes from industry are ok because they just blow away.

          Now I'm sure the teachers weren't thick. They must have made the same obvious connection that I did. When scientists announced in the 1980s that we'd made a hole in the ozone, that the rain contained sulphuric acid, and that large areas of forest in Norway and Denmark were dying of poisoning, the only surprise for me was that everyone else seemed surprised.

          Investors aren't to blame. We should be grateful that work was created for people. The investors wouldn't have invested in something that wouldn't be profitable, and to make profit you need consumers to buy things.
           
        • Phil A

          Phil A Guest

          Ratings:
          +0
          These will be the same people that will be suprised when the north atlantic conveyor turns off & the glaciers start rolling again. There will be comments like "But I thought they said Global Warming?"

          Ironically, its the warming that will cause the cooling,

          http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jul/24/greenland-ice-sheet-thaw-nasa

          The ice on land, unlike the sea ice, is fresh water. All that pouring onto the North Atlantic will stop the warm current sinking & just turn off the conveyor belt.
           
        Loading...

        Share This Page

        1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
          By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
          Dismiss Notice