Thursday 16 June 2011

Today didn't ...

... go as planned but then when do my days ever go as planned? Planning is the kiss of death. I did manage to get part of what I'd planned done and that was to get some crafty bits together to give to a friend who is collecting for a friend of hers.  Her friend has ties with a village in Kenya and she is making a trip over there soon and asked for bits and pieces to take to the women - bras, panties, toothbrushes and craft stuff.  I've put a box of craft stuff together and I've a couple of new packs of panties that I won't be using and some bras I no longer have need of.  Not too much on that front as I've not long had a clear out and most went for recycling in one way or another. Shame. Had I known sooner .....

Nothing else got done as I developed a headache so the rest of the day has passed in a bit of a blur.  Still, there's always tomorrow!  On the subject of recycling Cally sent me this earlier today and I've got to say .... who were/are the biggest recyclers - and who the most wasteful?  We just never considered any of this to be recycling - well, it was never labelled as such.  It just made economic sense - and there wasn't really any alternative - lol! 

In the queue 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 didn’t 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, sterilized and refilled, so the same bottles were used over and over.  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/lift 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 a couple of streets.  

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

Back then they washed the baby's nappies because they didn't have the disposable kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 240 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. 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 the UK. In the kitchen, they blended and mixed by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for them. When they wrapped a fragile item to send in the post 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 petrol just to mow 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 bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mums into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one power point in a room not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. 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 pizzeria.    

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

Food for thought, huh?


Thanks for dropping by .....

2 comments:

Cally said...

Hope your headache didn't last too long Pam, glad you liked the e-mail. Gets you thinking doesn't it??

Anonymous said...

Wow love this about recycling, certainly makes you think. My daughter is 26 and I used cotton nappies for her, used to soak them in a tin bucket overnight, she did not believe me when I told her. Also Gary has only ever had a push mower to cut the grass, you can still buy them.

Hope your headache has eased today.

Jackiep xx