The Green Thing

[Guest guest]

In the line at the store, the cashier told an 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 our problem today. Your generation did not

care enough to save our environment. " *

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 recycled.

But we didn't have the *green thing* back in our day.

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

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

the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters,

not always brand-new clothing. But that old 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 a wadded up

old

newspaper 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

schoool 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 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 we old folks

were just because *we didn't have the green thing back then?*

--

Ortiz, MS, RD

*The FRUGAL Dietitian* <http://www.thefrugaldietitian.com>

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