Which generation invented green technology anyway?

[Baz]

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 truly 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 scribbling's. 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 smart-ass young person.

[oldE]

Add to that:

Flour came in 80 lb cloth bags, which were re-used for everything from sacks to mattress covers and pillow cases.

When you cooked a goose, you could save the goose grease in bottles and used it for light duty oil. The down feathers went into the pillow cases.

Old shirts, skirts, etc. were cut up and re-sewn into quilts.

The list goes on.
Best
Les

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by Baz

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 truly 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 scribbling's. 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 smart-ass young person.

Well stated and accurate.

Everything mentioned, I remember very well. I also remember the changes as they began to happen and, in general, it was not by "our generation" (late 40's boomers) as we were still too young to be involved. That's not to say we didn't inherit the trend and expand on it as we moved into positions of power, mainly due to the need to be competitive in the economy. We came of age at the beginning of the "throw away economy", where planned obsolescence was a given, in order to keep the consumer-driven economy thriving. Any company which tried to retain the old, recycle ways went out of business because they could not bring their costs down to compete with companies that used throw away materials. Ironically, in order to "go green" now, we have to pay the higher prices the older businesses would have charged had they stayed around or didn't change their business model to remain viable.

Yeah, that clerk had a real attitude. I wonder how many cell phones she has gone through in her young life, just to stay current on the latest technology. And just where do all those batteries and electronic elements wind up?

[BlueSkyJaunte]

I'm not even forty and I remember a lot of those things.

Mom washing diapers ad nauseum.

Walking to get groceries--especially vegetables at the nearby farm.

Watching Mom make whipped cream--with a bowl and a spatula!

Me pushing the mower in the back yard...ugh. 1/4 acre.

Shoveling the driveway instead of using a snow-blower.

Walking to school--it wasn't far enough to justify bicycling until jr. high.

Oh, and my parents didn't believe in A/C, so in the summer time we just kept the windows open until it got to be about 85 degrees in the house.

From my perspective it's really in the past 20 years that society has become so consumerist and disposable. Or perhaps my parents were throwbacks and simply did things the way Grandma and Grandpa did them.

[fingpilot]

I think the 'claim' of 'green' goes to Al Gore, back when he invented the Internet.

[Zeke]

OTOH, we left the hose running while washing the car and then we washed the driveway, patio and walks for 30 minutes and then watered the lawn forgetting the sprinklers until the water ran 2 blocks down in the gutter. When we did jump in that old jalopy to head to the store, it used 8 gal to the mile and spit out enough hydrocarbons to sting your eyes.

We slathered on lead based paints and the exterminator came by once a month and blew DDT into the clothes closet and linen closet. The nearby refinery produced enough pollutants that taking a deep breath on a hot summer day led to choking.

Beer cans didn't have pop tops yet, but they did rust in the sand at the beach. A lot of cigarettes didn't have filters to choke birds, but the smoke in restaurants sometimes made it hard to see who was across the room. The government was lighting nukes out in the desert and people came to watch the glow in the sky.

Diesel trucks blew black smoke and the more the prouder the driver was. Trains blew coal smoke as did the power plants. Paper manufacturers treated and bleached pulp and piped the expended treatments directly into the rivers. Housewives used lye and phosphates for cleaning and the waste went in the rivers and lakes. Farmers used anything and everything to poison anything that reduced yield.

Timberlands were clear cut and left to erode to rock. Anytime refrigeration needed recharging the existing contents were bled off into the free atmosphere. Used motor oil was poured out on the ground as was anti-freeze.

This one goes both ways.

[scottmandue]

About five thousand years ago... everything was organic and pesticide free!

[RWebb]

more like before ~~1920

[mikeesik]

Originally Posted by Baz

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 truly 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 scribbling's. 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 smart-ass young person.

That is a great write.

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by Zeke

OTOH... (snip)

Timberlands were clear cut and left to erode to rock. Anytime refrigeration needed recharging the existing contents were bled off into the free atmosphere. Used motor oil was poured out on the ground as was anti-freeze.

This one goes both ways.

Still remember grandpa pouring the bucket of gasoline that he just cleaned his hands with into the swamp behind his shop. "What else are you gonna do with it? It's fulla grease!"

RIP Grandpa Weber - WWII Marine in the Pacific, long haul truck driver in the 50s/60s and maybe just not the first "Green"...

[mjohnson]

Originally Posted by Baz

(snip)
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 truly recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Depending on where you live, you can't assume the impact of washing/sanitizing something is less than that of simply re-manufacturing it. It defies "common sense" but sometimes disposable is better.

For the environment - I haven't washed my coffee cup in a month...

[Hugh R]

Rode a bike to school, K-12, push mower, we had a compost heap, even though we got cheap electricity from TWA, my Dad made us turn the lights off in rooms not being used. No pool heater. On the other hand, my Camry get 3X the mileage of our old 69 Ford Station Wagon. It also needs a tune up at 100K versus 10K, puts out about 5% of the NOx, CO, HC, etc. of that old thing.

[regency]

I remember ( about 1977 ), in the rice harvest every year..........we'd bring the harvesters (3) into the landing about 9pm, throttle them down, letting the turbos cool a bit, then shut them down. Then, pull the drain plugs and let the oil drain out onto the ground over night. The next morning, replace the plugs, new filters, 5 gallons of Chevron Delo 400.........and continue the harvest.

It was the "Green" thing to do back then.

1973 911 T MFI Coupe, Aubergine

Steve

[aigel]

PPOT =



and +1 on Milt's post!

G

[Baz]

[BReif61]

Geezer rant aside, the reusable grocery bags are a good idea. I dont know of a single person that advocates the continued use of plastic bags.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by BReif61

Geezer rant aside, the reusable grocery bags are a good idea. I don't know of a single person that advocates the continued use of plastic bags.

I totally agree - the plastic bags are horrible on the environment!

I have been re-using" the old-style paper bags for years. I use double paper and like to fill them to the top!

I carry them folded up in my truck so have them available whenever I shop.

They will last a long time if cared for properly.

[Danimal16]

Originally Posted by Zeke

OTOH, we left the hose running while washing the car and then we washed the driveway, patio and walks for 30 minutes and then watered the lawn forgetting the sprinklers until the water ran 2 blocks down in the gutter. When we did jump in that old jalopy to head to the store, it used 8 gal to the mile and spit out enough hydrocarbons to sting your eyes.

We slathered on lead based paints and the exterminator came by once a month and blew DDT into the clothes closet and linen closet. The nearby refinery produced enough pollutants that taking a deep breath on a hot summer day led to choking.

Beer cans didn't have pop tops yet, but they did rust in the sand at the beach. A lot of cigarettes didn't have filters to choke birds, but the smoke in restaurants sometimes made it hard to see who was across the room. The government was lighting nukes out in the desert and people came to watch the glow in the sky.

Diesel trucks blew black smoke and the more the prouder the driver was. Trains blew coal smoke as did the power plants. Paper manufacturers treated and bleached pulp and piped the expended treatments directly into the rivers. Housewives used lye and phosphates for cleaning and the waste went in the rivers and lakes. Farmers used anything and everything to poison anything that reduced yield.

Timberlands were clear cut and left to erode to rock. Anytime refrigeration needed recharging the existing contents were bled off into the free atmosphere. Used motor oil was poured out on the ground as was anti-freeze.

This one goes both ways.

All true, BUT, how many of those nasty practices have stopped?

Having a bit of experience with the environmental industrial complex, we have to ask a tough question, "how clean is clean"?

Zeke, the fantastic examples that you use were the legitimate basis for the environmental movement. I say legitimate because there are massive sectors of the environmental movement that have been perverted to greed and political power and pretty much have little impact on "saving the planet".

A PERFECT modern example is the electric car. When you consider all of the logistics, environmental impacts and infrastructure costs, as well as the disposal costs, the electric car in its current form is a complete fraud when compared to gasoline and the new technology diesels. But it has great marketing pull for the naive and ignorant.

There are other examples like that. This is not a total condemnation of environmental design, engineering and regulation, but is but some examples that illustrate the need to be smart about this stuff.

Don't even get me started on the water issues in California or the regulators and the tyrannical administrative law that characterizes the environmental industrial complex. When you have board members with political science, art, and english degrees appointed by politicians making complex technical decisions, you get California Environmental Regulation.

[pbs911]

There's no real corporate money in being "green," and until then people will convince themselves that reusing plastic bags and recycling their tuna cans and Ragu jars and using lead free paint is actually going to save the planet. Some counties may have made plastic bags illegal, but what about all the products that come packaged in thick plastic packaging?

If people really wanted to be green they have to start rejecting brand specific products. For example, all phone, computers, and chargers would have a universal cable and attachments. Just think of all the electronics Apple made obsolete when it introduced the IPhone 5 with its "new" cable. These products will simply begin filling the landfills. Electronics should be upgradeable with universal fit interchangeable parts, and built in obsolescence into products should be illegal.

When is the last time you heard a product advertised as "being the last one you'll every have to purchase?" Or a product coming with a lifetime guarantee? Corp America realized that selling its products that conform to these standards simply prohibited it from increase profits, and until it does the natural resources will continue to be depleted until it is way to late. This is hardly being green.

When I was in grade school (circa. 1970's) I would use the same brown paper luck bag for months. Just fold it up and bring it home.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by BReif61

Geezer rant aside, the reusable grocery bags are a good idea. I dont know of a single person that advocates the continued use of plastic bags.

You do now.
Some of us are not as easily brain-washed as others.
We work off logic and rational thinking, not pure irrational emotion.

So ...... .how much energy does it take to wash those cloth grocery bags? How much detergent do you wash down the sewer every time you wash them? How much water do you waste?

You do wash those bags, don't you? If not how much does a case of food poisoning cost?
Hell maybe you don't wash them. Maybe darwin is already on this thing.


Hey, I got an idea. how about we put disposable plastic bags inside our reusable cloth grocery bags. That was we can be ecologically friendly AND pretend to be all smug and ****.