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  • On being green...

    Being Green

    Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

    The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."

    The young clerk 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, 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.

    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 schoolbooks. 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.

    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.

    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 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 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 wadded up old newspapers 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 school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's $45,000 SUV or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing." 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 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger 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?

    We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to make us angry... especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced, smart aleck who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much.
    Power Wagon Advertiser monthly magazine, editor & publisher.


    Why is it that the inside of old truck cabs smell so good?

  • #2
    Well Put Gordon!
    I can remember most of not being green.
    Progress!
    TGP
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    • #3
      I can't claim to have written it, but I thought it was good.
      Power Wagon Advertiser monthly magazine, editor & publisher.


      Why is it that the inside of old truck cabs smell so good?

      Comment


      • #4
        Very good statment, I like it! Things have really changed in the last 50 years.

        Frank

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        • #5
          Wow! There is so much truth to that!

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          • #6
            Very true, I have seen this before, and I remember not being green either!

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            • #7
              I am 43 so I didn't experience a lot of the examples in the article as an adult...
              if a snot nosed teenager ever gripes at me that I didn't "save the world" for them.... I would ask.. what have you done to deserve it?

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              • #8
                When I have one of those Kale eating Prius drivers tell me what a terrible person I am for driving such an ancient gross polluter, I simply explain to them the list of toxic heavy metals and other parts of their beloved Tofumobiles. Just the batteries alone create a tremendous amount of pollution, in mining the raw materials and the manufacturing process and yet again in disposal which is rarely done correctly. And then there is the issue of vehicle collisions. All first responders will now be subject to manifold chemical exposure as a result of any serious accident involving a hybrid or battery powered vehicle. Departments have already circulated informational packets about wearing safety gear when dealing with them.
                I'm not knocking green technology, but I do think the true cost should be widely known and not kept under wraps because it embarrasses Al Gore.

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                • #9
                  So true. I get a kick out of the "green" thing. The useful idiots think it is about saving the environment - meanwhile the smarta$$ politician that "coined it" has been taking "their green" to the bank ever since.......

                  Now that green is a marketing term. Have you noticed that Styrofoam cups are green because we don't need to waist water & soap washing them & glassware is green because we don't throw them away after each use.

                  I have fun explainig to the zombies I'm not green - I recycle!

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                  • #10
                    Great thread!

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Bob Thompson View Post
                      And then there is the issue of vehicle collisions. All first responders will now be subject to manifold chemical exposure as a result of any serious accident involving a hybrid or battery powered vehicle. Departments have already circulated informational packets about wearing safety gear when
                      Not to mention the threat of electrocution. We're set to have a class on this soon.

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                      • #12
                        The fact of the matter is oil is past peak production. That is, that we have used more than half of the oil the planet has to offer. If we continue to consume oil the way we have been, one day it will run out. It’s just that simple.

                        So long as the sun continues to shine we have a nearly inexhaustible source of renewable energy. That is of corse until the sun stops turning hydrogen to helium which is in about 6 billion years.

                        This program may shine a little light on the predicament we are in. I encourage everyone I know to take the time and watch it.

                        http://earththeoperatorsmanual.com/f...erators-manual

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                        • #13
                          Now this may sound cynical but I am compelled to point out that most of the business world is not interested in green energy. They are interested in the alternative to oil that they can make the most money from. So that if a particular solution keeps their heavy metals mining operations going, along with their chemical companies and all the ancillary contributors to the latest greatest high yield battery; then that is the technology they will embrace. There is just not enough money in solar or fuel cells to make it worth while.

                          Better technologies don't always win the day, anyone remember "Beta-Max"?
                          All the audio video geeks held it in great regard for its quality of sound and picture and the durability of cassettes and many other points. Who doesn't have a box of VHS cassettes in the attic? Just waiting for you to get time to transfer them to DVD or the next greatest technology.

                          Another example comes from my own experience; a neighbor had a job with a company that was developing a hydrogen still that required only a natural gas connection. The idea being that coupled with a small fuel cell no larger than the average furnace, one could power home and perhaps an auto with the combination. I liked the idea well enough to meet the owners and invest in the business. Perhaps a year later I was informed that I would receive a check for nearly twice my initial investment and that an agreement had been reached with a large corporation to purchase and “further develop” the technology. Shortly after that my neighbor and the rest of the employees were dismissed with a large severance and a non-disclosure agreement.
                          I believe the reasoning behind this action was that there was no way to control the technology once it was out in public, and therefore difficult to monetize .

                          I suspect that any technology that does not revolve around constantly replacing some component that can be controlled or even withheld to manipulate the market will not see the light of day.
                          So we will continue to use oil as long as a profit can be made by those in a position to control the resource. The only response we can have to this is to change the nature of our usage and demand.

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                          • #14
                            Please tell me what the definition of green energy is?

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by old red View Post
                              Please tell me what the definition of green energy is?
                              That's the million dollar question right there Red. Each type of energy from solar to coal, has some impact on the environment. Batteries require heavy metals , solar requires chemicals and oil during the manufacturing process. Everything has a cost to the environment, so I guess I guess the greenest is the one that has the least negative effect.

                              Alternatively, it's a meaningless buzz-word that politicians use to get themselves elected to a job for which they are not qualified; and should be barred from simply because they want it.

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