Too far ahead? Thanks Judi Cole!

Think about it. Are we really better off now? I know I like a lot of the things mentioned here but are we really better off???













In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that

plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized

to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my

day.”



That’s right, they didn’t have the green thing in her day. Back then,

they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to

the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and

refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were

recycled.



But they didn’t have the green thing back her 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.



But she’s 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 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 pizza dish,

not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they

blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric

machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item

to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not

styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.



Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to

cut 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 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 streetcar 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 they didn't have the green thing back then!