I guess I'm old!

(Sorry, this is kinda long and no pictures, today! Will you still read this? What do you do to 'be green'?)
From a recent e-mail:

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."

The clerk responded, "That's the problem today ~ the previous generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, they returned their 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 recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But she was right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because the didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.

Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers and 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 a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief, not a screen the size of Montana. 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 mail, they used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline 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 their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and 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 streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning their moms 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!

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks were, just because they didn't have the green thing back then?

~*~

I do use cloth grocery bags ~ I try to use as little plastic,

in any shape or form, as is possible for me.

I remember getting milk in glass bottles when I was

young, WHEN we didn't milk our own cow(s). And I

remember taking those glass bottles back

to the store for credit on the next one.

I have found a few stores around that are still

doing this. But today I purchase raw milk

from a milk 'delivery' man.

I try to take the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator

when ever I can. I feel the burn!

My babies wore cloth diapers and I line

dried them. I still line dry my clothes ~

there is nothing like the smell of fresh, line dried

clothes and that snapping crisp feel of sheets

dried on a breezy sunny day!

On the rare day that we couldn't play outside

when we were kids

we huddled around our 1 black and white tv.

Or did our homework...

With no computer or even a calculator!

I do use my kitchen aid mixer for many things,

but I still knead my bread by hand,

and I miss my little hand beater (not

an electric one!)

for quick jobs like eggs. Do they still make those?

I never purchase bubble wrap or styrofoam for

mailing. I reuse any I get from packages.

Air popped popcorn works great and

is light weight and it can be feed to

birds when finished ~ ultimate recycling!

I have to admit that I don't use a push mower

anymore. That's what we used when I was

a kid, but now it is just too hard

for me to mow 3 acres by hand!!

(I do most of the mowing.

Just like my friend Lori F! She used to have a blog

but doesn't post anymore. :~{ )

That is why I am looking into getting sheep ~

Old English lawn mowers!

I never have liked drinking water from plastic bottles!

It tastes like the water came from

someones' clorinated/floridated faucet!

Nothing beats the taste of our spring fed well water,

except the water growing up on the farm...

sweet and cold ~ no matter how hot the day!

The only pens I've bought were for my kids

when they were in school.

All we have now are ones given to us!

I only drive the 12 miles to town once a week ~

at $4.09 a gallon for gas.....

The school bus was the only way to get to school

back in my day, unless we rode our horses! :~D

I don't have any fancy cell phones/IPad/Blackberry/?

~ just a simple Tracfone (no contracts!) for emergencies!

I guess I'm old!

~*~

"A gray head is a crown of glory"

Proverbs 16:31