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mftoms59
04-07-2012, 06:25 PM
This is from an e-mail I received and thought I'd share it with young and old alike;

An Older Woman was checking out at the Grocery Store and the young cashier suggested she should bring her own bags, since plastic bags were bad for the environment. The older woman was apologetic 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 didn't care enough to save our environment for future Generations."

She was right, Our generation didn't have 'The Green Thing'. Back then, We returned Milk, Soda & Beer glass bottles to the store. The store sent them to the Plant to be sterilized & refilled, so we could use the same bottles over & over. So they really were recycled, but we didn't have 'The Green Thing' in our day.

We walked up stairs because we didn't have an elevator or escalator in every building, we walked to the Grocery Store and didn't climb into our vehicles 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' 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' in our day.

We drank from a Fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water, we refilled writing pens, replaced Razor Blades instead of throwing out pens or plastic razors, but we didn't have 'The Green Thing' in our day.

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. 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 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza 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?

Please forward this on to another selfish Old Person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart*ss Young person.

REMEMBER: Don't make Old People mad, we don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to P*SS us Off!

I hope you all enjoyed and learned a little and take it in the Spirit it was intended.

Oblique Human
04-08-2012, 10:39 AM
Actually I believe I've read a thread featuring this same anecdote. It prompted some fine discourse.

M80
04-08-2012, 12:40 PM
I decided to lookup up the region 1 (my region) Superfund cleanup sites. This is a bit from the first 3 on the list (listed by name).

The Atlas Tack facility was built in 1901 and manufactured cut and wire tacks, steel nails, and similar items until 1985. From the 1940s until the late 1970s or 1980s, wastes containing cyanide and heavy metals were discharged into an unlined acid neutralizing lagoon located approximately 200 feet east of the manufacturing building and adjacent to a saltwater tidal marsh in Buzzards Bay Estuary. The groundwater is contaminated with cyanide and toluene that leached from the site lagoon. The on-site soils and debris are contaminated with volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including toluene and ethyl benzene; heavy metals, including chromium, cadmium, lead, zinc and nickel; pesticides; polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

The three disposal areas include: the former Londonderry Town Dump, which operated during the 1960's and was used for the disposal of over 1,000 drums of chemical waste; a tire disposal area, where tires and demolition debris and several hundred drums of chemical waste were dumped; and a solid waste landfill, the largest disposal area, which was active until the State ordered the entire landfill closed in 1980 after hazardous wastes were identified in soil, and toxic organic substances were found in surface water and ground water.

The Baird & McGuire facility is located on a 20-acre site in Holbrook and operated as a chemical mixing and batching company from 1912 to 1983. The groundwater is contaminated with pesticides and organic and inorganic chemicals. Studies found significant levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), other organic compounds, arsenic, and pesticides including DDT and chlordane in the Cochato River sediments. The contamination is highest on site or within approximately 500 feet downgradient of the current site fence. Site soils were found to be contaminated with VOCs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), other organic compounds, pesticides, dioxin, and heavy metals such as lead and arsenic. Dioxin also has been detected in area wetland soils. The last operating well in the South Street Municipal Well Field was shut down in 1982 because of unacceptably high levels of organic contamination.


Thanks for using all those glass soda bottles though.

luvmysuper
04-08-2012, 01:18 PM
It was meant as a humorous post, not as a documentary.

dpmtherrien
04-08-2012, 03:22 PM
Great post, and I really enjoyed it. :thumbup1:

Go West Young Man
04-08-2012, 03:40 PM
It's a funny story, but pretty much completely wrong in it's conclusions.

mftoms59
04-08-2012, 11:17 PM
M80, I'm sure you know many by-products back then weren't known or considered Toxic, and most Businesses, then and now often overlook "small problems" that may cost money to correct but don't contribute to the revenue generated by the Company whether they are fixed or not. Secondly, I remember, 40-45 years ago, many backyard mechanics would dispose of used motor oil by burying it, like today not everyone is environmentally aware.

Thank you Phil, it was meant to be humorous and it does make the point that we as a society have become more of a throw-away & single use product society. Most products are now replaced instead of repaired or recycled.

Chris, please expound upon why it's "pretty much completely wrong"

Go West Young Man
04-09-2012, 07:48 AM
They took a stereotypical Depression experience and somehow jumped from "life was simpler back then" to "we were ecologically more sensitive."
Total BS, there was as much waste and pollution put out in the 20s as there is today.

quantumcloud509
04-09-2012, 08:49 AM
Feel the love... :) enjoy your Monday gentlemen, no use blaming anyone. I think that we all do our best and try to be as lawful and commited to being respectful when we can. Back then or now...or in the future. We are humans and we work with what we have.

mftoms59
04-09-2012, 09:29 PM
They took a stereotypical Depression experience and somehow jumped from "life was simpler back then" to "we were ecologically more sensitive." Total BS, there was as much waste and pollution put out in the 20s as there is today.

True, but I think the point would be we weren't as insensitive as a younger generation may believe, and I do agree there is as much pollution today as there was back then.

mftoms59
04-09-2012, 09:35 PM
Feel the love... :) enjoy your Monday gentlemen, no use blaming anyone. I think that we all do our best and try to be as lawful and commited to being respectful when we can. Back then or now...or in the future. We are humans and we work with what we have.

Discussing different points of view doesn't diminish the love we have for our fellow shavers, there's absolutely respect during these thread discussions. I guess you've never followed an "I hate AOS because..." Thread, they're always Heated & Spirited because we're a passionate bunch.