Being "Green" the new concept for America, or is it?

[Greg_M]

When I was a kid were weren't ever thinking about being green

Back then, we collected and returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store (and we got candy money to do so). 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.

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 school books. 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. Our classrooms didn't have AC, just an oscillating fan. 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.

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 our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their siblings, not always brand-new clothing.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. 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. We exercised by working so we didn't need to drive 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.

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 burger joint.

Greg

[cobrathegreat]

100% true. Nobody was Green back then. Miss the old disgusting, not Green day.

[Finallygotit]

Wow! I actually remember all of that. I must be old..... I can probably count the number of days I stayed in the house when I was a kid on one hand. Not really but it sure seemed like it. We were ALWAYS outside doing s-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g.

[MPTech]

The difference is that government didn't get involved and make it a business.
It was called being thrifty then.
Now a companies want to make money from it.

[joyridin']

Originally Posted by MPTech

The difference is that government didn't get involved and make it a business.
It was called being thrifty then.
Now a companies want to make money from it.

I tend to disagree. We as Americans weren't so lazy back then. Also, companies were run a lot different. The bottom line was important, but they didn't need to destroy everything just to make a few extra cents.

[NiceGuyEddie]

Wow, Greg, did you really write that?

I like your comment about one TV, one Radio... one big thing you left out is how often people remodel their kitchens, baths, etc.

Ever see something on TV where they re-do a kitchen and make it green? Well I suppose if you are going to do it, be as green as possible, but the point is that it's almost contradictory... if you care so much, don't re-do your kitchen!

Same train of thought in selling a perfectly fine Honda and buy a new Prius.

Or a Prius with custom wheels? Doing 100mph on the 405 freeway?

I am all for the environment, but most are not as green as they think, and as you said, it's not as "new" as people think.

.

[quicksand]

I was a member of the ecology club in middle school in the early 70's...a lot of cute girls seriously

[CraigS]

So GregM just told us he's about my 64 yr age cause I remember all that.One of the things that just cracks me up is all the cool healthy people. And they all go through how many bottles of their favorite water every day? And each one is made from plastic and thrown in the trash. Jeeeez!

[Greg_M]

Originally Posted by CraigS

So GregM just told us he's about my 64 yr age cause I remember all that.

If you were born around 1948 and can identify, not much had changed by the first week of 1957 when I was born. Most people lived this way until the '70s. I remember 100% of it. I remember waving to JFK on the little BW vacuum tube TV when he was campaigning because I thought he was waving to me!

Remember lunch boxes and Thermos bottles packed at home? Remember cloak rooms and cigar boxes, drinking from the hose and running barefoot all summer until after 10PM?

Man we had it so good in a simple and meaningful way. We were so very blessed to experience times when everyone was proud and America was at her best.

Greg

[RedJoker]

To be fair, most of that stuff is still the same way. Fortunately, most of us here are wealthy enough to just run the dryer, have all the TVs, think nothing of driving, purchase disposable items, etc. I work with a lot of folks that do most of the items listed based on necessity. I still do about half of them.

Yes, there are many that have changed but many that don't. At work, we were just talking today about canning everything coming out of the garden and I bet most in the conversation had six figure incomes. It's just choices....

[Greg_M]

Red Joker,
Excuse me... The pay phone in the hall is ringing....

Greg

[RedJoker]

Originally Posted by Greg_M

Red Joker,
Excuse me... The pay phone in the hall is ringing....

Greg

HA!!! Ok, it's not all EXACTLY the same.

[Eldrik]

I remember a lot of that, and I aint THAT old, yet...

But really, ya wanna know why its called being "GREEN"?
Because of all the $$$ that is involved.
I thought we were trying to make our world cleaner...like the clear blue sky...
If the top agenda wasn't for the $$$, it should really be called going/being BLUE.