"The Green Thing"

    We did not have this "Green thing" earlier in my life. Did our parents not care enough for the environment and save resources for the future generation? Fortunately, the current generation has recognized the need to conserve our resources!
    Back then they returned milk bottles and soda bottles to the store. The glass bottles went back to the company to be washed, sterilized and refilled. The same bottles were used over and over. But they did not have the "green thing" in those days.
    Grocery stores bagged the groceries in brown paper bags which were used for numerous things. Besides being used for storage, the brown bags were cut up to made book covers to protect school books so they could be used over and over from one year to the next. A brown paper bag was cut up to wrap a (recycled) shoe box for a parcel post package instead of buying a box at the post office. They packaged a fragile item  for shipping with wadded up old newspaper to cushion it. They did not use Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.  But they did not do the green thing!
    They walked up stairs because they did not have an elevator or an escalator in the store. They walked to the grocery store for a small item. They did not climb into a 300 horse power machine every time they needed to go two blocks for a five pound bag of sugar. But they did not do the green thing!
   Back then, they washed the baby's diaper because they  did not have the throw away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling-machine burning 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry their clothes back in those days -(and is still my preference)! Children wore hand-me-down clothes from their brothers and sisters, not new brand name clothes. But they did not have the green thing.
    In the kitchen they used a hand egg beater or a can opener.  They did not have electric gadgets to do everything for them. They had one electrical outlet per room- not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. They did not buy pretty vinyl drawer liner but used old newspapers for shelf and drawer liner.  But they did not do the green thing!
    They did not fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the grass in the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power.They exercised by working so they did not need to drive to the health club or use  a treadmill that operates on electricity. But they did not do the green thing!
    They drank from the water faucet or a fountain when they were thirsty. They did not use a plastic cup or bottle every time they wanted a drink of water. They refilled writing pens with ink instead of throwing the old pen away and buying a new one. They replaced razor blades instead of throwing the old razor away just because the razor was dull.  But they did not do the green thing!
    Back then people walked, took the bike or bus to school instead of turning their Mom into a 24-hour-taxi service. They did not need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles away in order to find the nearest burger joint. But they  did not do the green thing!
    Isn't it sad how wasteful our parents were just because they did not do the green thing?