Adapted from the Internet
In the line at the store, an older shopper was told by the clerk to ‘bring your own grocery bag next time’ because plastic bags aren’t good for the environment. The shopper apologized and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.”
The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. The former generation did not care enough to save our environment.”
Was the shopper right that they didn’t have “the green thing” in their day? Was the clerk right that the former generation did not care enough to save the environment?
Back then, they returned softdrink bottles to the store, and were refunded the ‘deposit’. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilized, and refilled, so the same bottles were re-used over and over. Nowadays, bottled softdrink is poured into a throw-away plastic bag, and you drink it using a throw-away plastic straw.
In the kitchen before, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn’t have electric machines. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
But they didn’t have “the green thing” back then.
In those days, they walked to nearby destinations, and didn’t climb into a gas-guzzling vehicle or the MCH every time they had to go a short distance.
Back then, they didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to mow the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power, allowing one to exercise while working, instead of paying a health club to get to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But they didn’t have “the green thing” back then.
They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of using a disposable plastic cup or a plastic bottle. They refilled their writing pens with ink instead of buying a new throw-away pen, and they replaced the blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
Back then, they brought their own baskit or bayong with old newspapers, and dahon saging when they went to market. Today, everything you buy at the market (or grocery) is placed in throw-away plastic bags.
But they didn’t have “the green thing” back then.
In the past, houses were designed with high ceilings and wide windows, allowing the breeze to circulate freely providing for ambient temperatures. Nowadays, houses are designed like heat traps with low ceilings and small windows thus, requiring an electricity-guzzling air-conditioner to cool it.
Not too long ago, we saw many trees in private properties, parks, and along the streets. Today, we see much heat-reverberating concrete all around.
But they didn’t have “the green thing” back then.
They washed baby’s diapers back then because they didn’t have today’s eco-unfriendly disposable diapers. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling drying machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.
Before, people took the bus, and kids walked or rode their bikes to school instead of having their own ‘taxi service’. And they didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from a satellite or signal sites just to send a message to a friend.
But they didn’t have “the green thing” back then.
Isn’t it sad the current generation laments how uncaring of the environment the old folks were just because “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day?”
Are we really ‘greener’ today?
Cecilia Hofmann & Leo Mamicpic
