Checking out at the supermarket recently ,the young cashier suggested I should bring in my own bags because plastic ones weren't good for the environment . I apologised and explained that we didn't have the green thing in our day . The cashier responded "that's our problem today , your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generation!"
She was right about 1 thing we didn't have the green thing in our day,
so what did we have ?After some reflection and Soul searching on our day ,here's what I remembered .
Back then we returned milk bottles , fizzy pop and beer bottles to the store and the store returned them to the plant ,where the bottles were washed sterilised and refilled , so the same bottles were being reused repeatedly so they were recycled . But we didn't have the green thing !
Back then groceries where packed in paper bags, not plastic ones. Once home and empty they provided hours of entertainment for the cat.
But we didn't have the green thing !
We walked upstairs ,because we didn't have escalators and lifts in every store or office buildings,we walked to the shops and didn't climb into a 300 horse powered machine ,every time we wanted to go two streets away. She was right we didn't have the green thing in our day !
Back then we washed the babies nappies ,we didn't have the throw away kind . We dried our clothes on a line ,not on a energy gobbling machine burning 240 volts ......wind and solar power really did dry our clothes !
Kids got hand me downs from their brothers or sisters and not brand new clothing every time. But she was right we didn't have the green thing in our day .
Back then we had 1 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 Wales !
In the kitchen we blended or stirred by hand , we didn't have electric machines doing everything for us.
When we packed a parcel for posting it was wrapped in old newspapers , to protect them ,not styrofoam or bubble wrap .
Back then we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the grass , we used a push mower that ran on human power,we exercised by working so we didn't need to go to the gym or health club to go on a treadmill run on electric ,but she's right we didn't have the green thing.
Back then we drunk from a fountain when we were thirsty ,instead of using a plastic cup or bottle every time we needed a drink. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying new ones , and we replaced blades of a razor instead of throwing away when they went blunt, but we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then people took buses and kids took their bikes to school or walked instead of mum being a 24 hr taxi service.
We had only 1 electrical outlet in each room not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances, and we didn't need a computerised gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellite 2,000 miles away in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn't it sad that the current generation laments how wasteful we older folk were just because we didn't do the green thing !!
