Going Green. Is It Really a New Innovation?
Interesting twist !!!!!
In line at the Express shop, the cashier told an older woman that plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
That's right, they didn't have "the green thing" in her day.
Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.
But they didn't have the green thing back in her day.
In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator or lift in every store and office building. They walked to the shop and didn't climb into a 300 horsepower machine every time they had to go a short distance. But she's 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 countless kilowatts. 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 one in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza pan, not a screen the size of Dorset. 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 post, they used wadded up 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 fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen. 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 tram or bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, 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 computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
Yes, its a crying shame that we didn't have the green thing back then!
7 Answers
And the washing was done in a copper , heated up with wood , and everything
was washed on monday morning . Wrung out on a hand mangle. Then dried by the
wind and sun. the few things which needed ironing was ironed by a big heavy
iron heated on the fire hob. No energy wasted because the fire was also the
cooking stove . But I don't want to go back to those times , they were really
hard , especially on the women , they were all old before their time. What a pity there was no green thingy!
Thanks for an interesting post Eddy, it needs more discussion.
I remember being fascinated by the mangle, also I liked my twin tub and was sad to see it go - you could do several loads of washing in it using the same water, starting with the whites and so on.
I starting re-using bags back in the 80's - at that time shop assistants would be really perturbed about it, and in one department store they insisted I had to use one of their bags, so I didn't buy the item!
I've always hated waste, I find it difficult in the hospital now, seeing so much 'single-use' , disposable equipment - all in the name of Infection Control - against super-bugs that we simply didn't come across back in the days of 're-using', cleaning and sharing equipment. It seems the harder we try to stamp out microbes, the more they love it!
Don't even mention the overuse of antibiotics and the price we're paying for those little chickies coming home to roost. .Se está perdiendo la batalla contra las superbacterias
Ray, of course I can only agree about certain aspects of the excess of work imposed upon women in days of yore, however at least in part it was due to having too many children, and husbands who themselves were too worn out to help them after gruelling hard days of work in the fields or factories. My nan's mum died at the age of 55 (only 3 years older than I am now) after having 14 children. Basically she just wore out. But her husband wasn't long in following her. Personally, I would rather die earlier from being worn out by a full life where I've taken responsibility for myself, than die at an advanced age after a miserable last 20 or 30 years of being kept alive by medication, suffering too many illnesses brought on by overeating and a "convenient", largely sedentary bore of a life.
I think there must be a happy medium, surely as a species we can be intelligent enough to find it???
Now look Eddy, you made me get on my soapbox!!
Yes, it's not really a new idea. We called it conservation when I was a child. Now I hear the word Environmentalism. Someday that word will also be outdated. It has already morphed into going green. Maybe it is all part of our new and improved culture.
Like Ray, I would not rather forgo modern conveniences though many of them lead to poor physical conditioning. When I first started working out, my father used to tell me how stupid it was, and why didn't I just do more work.
There would be a lot of misery in the world if our infrastructure collapsed as many skills required to survive are like stone age history to those that have never hunted for their food, or grown their own.
I have retired to a place where the old ways are easier to employ, but I am also glad to have propane on those cold mornings when I don't feel up to carrying in the wood. I do most of my hunting at the supermarket now.
On the industrial side of this question.
I have built steam boilers and drying systems for the food, wood and and metals processing industry for more than 35 years.
We used the rice hulls as fuel to dry the rice.
We ground up peach pits to add to the fuel to fire boilers cooking canned peaches.
We used the wood waste from lumber mills to fire boilers to dry the lumber and generate electricity.
We burned peanut shells to dry peanuts
We use the oil on metal turnings to fire dryers to de- oil the metal.
The list goes on, Including methane generators using municipal and animal waste to make natural gas and dry fertilizer.This was all before the word green meant anything other than your lawn.
And yes we had " pollution control " systems in place even then.
Ray said
But I don't want to go back to those times , they were really hard , especially on the women , they were all old before their time.
I disagree that women were old before their time. They just looked old mainly because of the fashion and the way they dressed. And yes it does need more discussions and quickly. If the present "greens" get their way and decommission all coal, gas and nuclear power stations and replace then with totally inadequate generating "windwills" be prepared to start chopping up your furniture to be used as fuel.
We return beer bottles to the shop. We line dry our clothes. We don't have heating or cooling in our house. We don't have hot water plumbing--we do have a little water heaters on the showers, but they are only on for a few minutes per day. We don't have a car, so we walk or take the bus everywhere. We don't have a TV. We do drink bottled water, because the tap water isn't safe. The stores also use biodegradable bags. It's not so much green as third world.
Disfruté mucho de lo que compartiste.
