# We didn't have the green thing back then



## Darlyn (Dec 14, 2011)

After reading Newtos post on the "old" days thought some of you might be interested in this. A bit long winded but good nonetheless :-

[h=3]We Didn't Have GREEN back then[/h]

In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should bring her own grocery bag 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. The former 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. 

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

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they 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 or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. 

But we didn't have the green thing back in those days. 

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, 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 you. 

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. I 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 the old lady was 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 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 we 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?

PS I stole this off the net and it's not attributed to anyone.


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## Dragonwolf (Dec 14, 2011)

Nice


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## White Wolf (Dec 14, 2011)

So true !!


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## dihsmaj (Dec 14, 2011)

These kind of arguments go back and forth. 
>You didn't care for the environment!
>Yeah well we used less stuff than you.
>No but (argument)
>No, you don't realise that (argument)
etc


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## Darlyn (Dec 14, 2011)

This is not an argument snakeluvver, it's a light hearted overview on the old days.
If I was going to have a crack at the younger gneration it would be quite pointless,
the older generations brought them up, no win situation : )


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## Snakewoman (Dec 14, 2011)

I remember when I was in primary school and my friends and I used to go bike riding all day on the weekends. I don't even have a pushbike anymore. I do still have the same rollerblades I did when I was 13... 9 years later and they still fit me! I've been going rollerblading with the same friend I used to go bike riding with, it's fun and makes me feel like a kid again. As for the environment, I'd love to have a motorcycle, it wouldn't pollute the planet as much as my car does... still trying to convince my mother though, she doesn't really want me to have one while I'm still living at home, but I certainly can't afford to move out (who can these days???).


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## J-A-X (Dec 14, 2011)

LOL , I remember being laughed at for taking string bags to the shops, and because I chose to use cloth nappies at home and save disposable for when I went out! 
Gee, these threads are making me feel like a real old fart... Oh wait a minute.... I AM 
ROFL


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## Darlyn (Dec 14, 2011)

ha ha Jax ~ I love string bags~


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## J-A-X (Dec 14, 2011)

Shhh, i think i still have some hiding somewhere.... I was really annoyed when I found out that my so-called environmentally friendly green, blue, purple and black bags were not 'green' at all !!!


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## Crystal..Discus (Dec 14, 2011)

Darlyn said:


> 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.



Ah, water fountains. How I miss thee. Now I'm too worried someone's rubbed their junk on it. 

COOTIES.


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## Darlyn (Dec 14, 2011)

My nanna used to make them they were awesome, also the plastic ones were good aswell.


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## J-A-X (Dec 14, 2011)

OMG, anyone remember the 'string' bags that were made of strips of bread bags crocheted or knitted together. ???? Reycycling at its best








:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## cleothecoastal (Dec 15, 2011)

pfft older generations did more damage to everything in general, two major examples would be industry and fast food. check mate. i could also spout on about cigarettes and alcohol, not to mention how the new generations have to some how fix racial problems. older generations did more damage in every facet of life. Who has it harder now?


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## Nighthawk (Dec 15, 2011)

*fingerpoint. Fingerpoint, fingerpoint, fingerpoint. Nit-picketty-pick-pick.*
No... wait... is that what we're meant to be doing? 

I love that string bag Jax; I'd rock that to the shopping centre!


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## jack (Dec 15, 2011)

the worst thing the older generations did was breed and make the new generations...


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## Crystal..Discus (Dec 15, 2011)

cleothecoastal said:


> pfft older generations did more damage to everything in general, two major examples would be industry and fast food. check mate.



So? Our generation is going to be blamed for Global warming and not fighting for freedom. The older generations did so much with what they could. Remember, they didn't have the internet, mobile phones or digital cameras to record every waking second on. Information spread very slowly, but when it did, they acted on it. We just sit behind computers and complain how hard our lives are, rather than go out and protest/riot. 

Also, you don't have to eat fast food. Fat people like to blame everyone but themselves for that one, because it's SO HARD to put down the FORK!



cleothecoastal said:


> i could also spout on about cigarettes and alcohol, not to mention how the new generations have to some how fix racial problems. older generations did more damage in every facet of life. Who has it harder now?



People are weak. That's not the older generation's problem. We have it WAY easier. We have information at our fingertips, global educational systems, the luxury of being able to communicate instantly with someone on the other side of the world. We don't HAVE to drink alcohol, but we do. We don't HAVE to smoke, but we do. You wouldn't be bitching about how hard your life is on an online forum, if it wasn't for the older generation. 

NOW GET OFF MY LAWN.


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## 53ERX (Dec 15, 2011)

Tahlia said:


> I remember when I was in primary school and my friends and I used to go bike riding all day on the weekends. I don't even have a pushbike anymore.



I still have a pushbike, and have used it to get to and from work for the past couple of years.
Doesn't really help the argument for the younger generation however, as it has a small electric motor onboard!


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## Darlyn (Dec 15, 2011)

Wow Cleothecoastal, thanks for keeping things light hearted.
Way to go!


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## SteveNT (Dec 15, 2011)

Jaxrtfm said:


> OMG, anyone remember the 'string' bags that were made of strips of bread bags crocheted or knitted together. ???? Reycycling at its best
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Heres a string basket from 1,000 generations ago. I bet their parents said the same thing about their kids that we say about ours. Just the accessories change.

This old lady from Gali'winku on Elcho Island spends months making one of these. She got into big trouble with one Art Centre manager for using green string from onion bags in some of her baskets. Bloke was a fool and I said so. She liked me and I used to meet her on the beach searching for these tiny shells.

Her main fear for the new generation was that they had forgotten the knowledge that makes these people the oldest continuous living culture. They prefer iphones and dvds. But there are plenty of them learning the knowledge too. It is a living culture after all.

The basket has deteriorated and suffered some micro insect attack and I would like her to rejuvenate it but I'm scared to ask about her. She was very old 20 years ago when I bought it and I'm afraid she may have impoverished the world by leaving it.


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## cleothecoastal (Dec 16, 2011)

i had to lmao lol


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## fugawi (Dec 16, 2011)

When you think about it, it is our generation that is of the age where we are now the decision makers and leaders. It is our generation that is actively trying to right the wrongs of our past to give the youth of today a better place to live in. It is our gen that is trying to stop the high extinction rates, global warming, environmental destruction etc. Before now we weren't in a leadership position to truly effect global affairs. We have learned from the previous generations and are now taking a stand as leaders.


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## Herpaderpa (Dec 16, 2011)

I don't care whos responsible for what... we are all doomed until people stop breeding like darn rabbits. I hate to think of what kind of life my daughter is going to have.

Darlyn your original post is not light hearted. Its finger pointing. The worst thing is... its the older generation that began to manufacture the new plastic bottles... that started using plastic bags... that thought it was ok to blanket the streets with pesticides and who cleared vast expanses of land and continue to do so today as CEO's in mining companies.

Who do you see in the CEO roles in big business? Its not the younger generations... is it. Fat rich baby boomers who started off in the lucky country when it was still lucky.


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## Darlyn (Dec 16, 2011)

Beg to differ Herpa. 
Is light hearted. There were no environmental issues back then.

Mainly because people couldn't afford not to recycle.
The older generation may have been in charge of making plastic bottles for water but it was sure as hell young people consuming
them. Supply and demand and rampant consumerism is aided by ALL ages of people.

You are quite correct about breeding like rabbits tho, we all know it, but no one stops it.


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## thomasssss (Dec 16, 2011)

now dont get me wrong i like the older generation did alot for our younger generation like getting rid of hittler (id hate to think of what the world would be like today had he succeeded )but if you want to track things like global warming and pollution back to its source which is kinda what this thread is aimed well it was the discovery of oil that has caused these problems now i dont blame the older generation for that because im sure if they didnt then our generation would of its just human nature we always want the grass to be greener


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## maddog-1979 (Dec 16, 2011)

thomasssss said:


> now dont get me wrong i like the older generation did alot for our younger generation like getting rid of hittler (id hate to think of what the world would be like today had he succeeded )but if you want to track things like global warming and pollution back to its source which is kinda what this thread is aimed well it was the discovery of oil that has caused these problems now i dont blame the older generation for that because im sure if they didnt then our generation would of its just human nature we always want the grass to be greener



punctuation is your friend.


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## thomasssss (Dec 16, 2011)

maddog-1979 said:


> punctuation is your friend.


no its not me and him had a fight back in high school haven't spoken since


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## maddog-1979 (Dec 16, 2011)

thomasssss said:


> no its not me and him had a fight back in high school haven't spoken since



yeah he does get a bit punchy after a few bundies.....

blame the oldies for inventing alcohol


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## thomasssss (Dec 16, 2011)

no i thank them for many things alcohol is one of them


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## Nighthawk (Dec 17, 2011)

Out of everything in history the only things you can think of off the top of your head is getting rid of Hitler and alcohol...?


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## thomasssss (Dec 17, 2011)

Nighthawk said:


> Out of everything in history the only things you can think of off the top of your head is getting rid of Hitler and alcohol...?


no i can think of quite a few those where just examples in-fact i originally only used hittler as my example then maddog-1979 decided we should blame the oldies for alcohol i simply said i thanked them for it nothing more but good on you for attempting to put me down i guess you've got nothing better to do?


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## Nighthawk (Dec 17, 2011)

Not really at the moment now you mention it, but I wasn't trying to put you down love. Don't take everything so seriously.


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## thomasssss (Dec 17, 2011)

oh im not taking it to seriously its not going to ruin my day or anything but please what exactly where you implying by saying that because to me it seemed that you where implying that i dont know anything about our history which does kinda insult me


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## Nighthawk (Dec 17, 2011)

I apologise for any implied insults thomasssss, my previous statement was nothing more than a lighthearted jibe. For future reference if I wanted to call you or anyone else ignorant I would just come right out and say so.


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