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I am sorry that I forgot how ‘green’ we were!

At the checkout of a supermarket, the young cashier suggests that from now on I will bring my own shopping bag instead of using a plastic bag. ‘Because plastic bags are not good for the environment’ she says.

I apologize and explain to her: "We didn't have that environmental green thinking when I was young!"

The cashier replies: 'Yes, and that is precisely OUR PROBLEM today: YOUR generation was not worried about saving the environment for future generations!'

I felt offended and at the same time thought she's right, our generation didn't have that 'green thing' in our days.

 

We used  to have milk in glass bottles, soft drinks in glass bottles and beer in bottles, which we brought back to the store empty and rinsed. The store then sended it back to the supplier/factory and in the factory these bottles were sterilized and refilled. We really did recycling.

But we forgot about it because we didn't do that 'green thing' at the time!

We walked stairs because we did not have escalators and lifts in every building.

We walked to the stores and didn't put ourselves in a 200 HP car every time, if we had to be 2 blocks away.

But she is right: we forgot about it because we didn't do that 'green thing' at the time!

Baby diapers went into the hot laundry because disposable diapers did not exist.

We dried our clothes on the line and not in an energy-wasting machine that uses 220 volts continuously. Wind and sun energy really dried our clothes - in the old days, in our days.

Children wore the discards of older brothers and sisters and did not receive brand new clothes.

But the young lady is right! We forgot about it because we didn't do that 'green thing' at the time!

At that time we had - perhaps - one TV or radio in the house and not one in every room. The TV had a small screen and not a screen the size of a room wall looking like a cinema.

In the kitchen, dishes were mixed and stirred by hand because we had no electrical devices that did everything for us.

If we had to send a fragile object by post, we would pack it in an old newspaper for protection and not in styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

We worked out by working, so we didn't have to go to a fitness club to run on rotating treadmills that run on electricity.

But she's right. We forgot about it because we didn't do that 'green thing' at the time!

We drank water from the tap when we were thirsty, instead of from a plastic bottle, which is thrown away after that. We filled our pens ourselves with ink instead of buying a new pen every time.

We replaced the blades of a razor instead of throwing away the whole thing just because the blade is blunt.

But, We forgot about it because we didn't do that 'green thing' at the time!

People took the train or a bus and children walked or cycled to school instead of using their mother or father as a 24-hour taxi service.

We had 1 electricity outlet per room and not a whole arsenal of sockets and extension cords to power a dozen devices.

And we didn't need automated gadgets to pick up a signal from a satellite that was hanging 2,000 miles away in space so that we could connect with others to find out where the nearest good restaurant place is.

We drank coffee or tea from a cup that was cleaned afterwards instead of going to the coffeeshop and have it from a plastic or paper cup with plastic straws.

Yes she's right. We forgot about it because we didn't do that 'green thing' at the time!

But isn't it in-and-in sad that the younger generation is commenting about how wasteful we 'older people' were, simply because we didn't have the environmental awareness on a large scale in our time?

I too am such an ‘older’ person, who is (not) waiting for a lesson in the preservation of mother earth, taught by ‘younger’ people of this time.

 
What I do have is a great awareness of the need that mother Earth is in and she is asking desperately for our help. Not from one generation but from all of us working together!
 
 

 

 

 

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