Checking out at the supermarket, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own shopping bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.   The woman apologised and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my day." The young cashier responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations." She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.   Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the factory to be washed and sterilised 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.   (America) Grocery shops bagged groceries in brown paper bags that were reused for numerous things, most, 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 on the brown paper bags. (England) we used left over wallpaper to cover our books. But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.   We walked up stairs, because we didn't have a lift in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery shop and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go there. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.   Back then, we washed the baby's nappies 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 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 a whole county. 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 screwed up old newspapers to protect it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn petrol 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 bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums 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 computerised gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest fast food place. 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 smartass young person.   LOL                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                             

Nice one sandi                                                                                                                                                                               

my name is kermit ,and it's not easy being green(cue the song)..                                                                                                                                                                             

i do my best to be green,try as hard as i can to destroy all that nasty poisonous petrol ,converting it into forward motion upon a beast of grace and beauty..no man could try harder onnist...x                                                                                                                                                                             

What about taking the old newspapers to the chippy(to get a free bag of chips)can't do that now health&safety                                                                                                                                                                             

wow that is brill Sandi love it  ..... that shoudl be put up on the wall of every supermarket and shop in teh country     and one other thing not mentioned above is that we had our shoes polished, and they had laces not darn velcro sticky things and we got them re-soled and healed rather than .......... let's just buy a new pair...   love it ace                                                                                                                                                                              

Pop bottles back to the shop Nd get 5p for each one returned...                                                                                                                                                                             

screw top cider bottles collected from hedge by off licence when i were a lad....even the romans recycled....christians into catfood...x                                                                                                                                                                             

Taking the fat shaped milk bottles to the dairy at the end of the road to be filled up with milk again, so as to save not getting charged extra in case we smashed the bottle...
                                                                                                                                                                             

getting eaten by cows!....................in your own time,then...Sigh..                                                                                                                                                                             

Nice one Sandi. I can relate to most of that as a kid.   Also people used to fix things rather than throw them out.                                                                                                                                                                             

  LOL sorry to disappoint you Suzi but I love velcro fastening shoes, (not so keen on the velcro fastening jacket cos it keeps getting caught on my gloves, scarf, hair!) I have sensitive skin (psoriasis) so anything that helps me 'do up' easily is welcome.   OAB I never knew of the free bag of chips if you supplied the chippy with old newspapers. Do you think it would work if I took them the unused tomato sauce sachets from the pot noodles?