Sunday, May 19, 2013

We Were Instinctively Green ! Are You ?

Hantu Laut

I don't know who the real author of this very discerning piece of the good old days when nothing was wasted and the planet not an environmental wasteland. It has appeared all over the Internet. It's kind of nostalgic, bringing back the good old days where nothing is thrown away, nothing is wasted.

Being green was never on the mind of those years of my generation because we were instinctively green, we saved, recycled and threw nothing away. We made our own kites, tops, toys and invented our own games. Those were days of ingenuity, making do with the little we have.

Some of you may have read this, but for those who have not happy reading and thanks the older generations for not killing the environment, not until some smart-asses invented the killing machines.

Today, you go to the supermarket they have what they called "no plastic day" but they would still give you one if you pay 20 cents, a miserable sum that most people don't mind to pay.A pathetic failure. Only the supermarkets benefited making extra profit. 

The government should stop this bloody nonsense, it's no help to the environment. They should instead sell fabric or paper bag which cost much more, which will deter people from coming empty-handed to the supermarkets and to bring their own bags.


Being Green

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized 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 did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

She was right — our generation didn’t have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truely recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But too bad we didn’t do the green thing back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine 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 throwaway 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 back 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 back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back then.

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 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger 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 smartass young person.


3 comments:

IT.Sheiss said...

Brilliant and so true!

If that clerk had said that to me, I would have told her exactly the same thing.

This no plastic bag on Saturday is just a token gesture. If the Selangor Pakatan government is serious about the environment, then mandate the use of paper bags, a deposit-return system for aluminium cans, glass and plastic bottles, plenty of recycling bins which are easily accessible to the public, places to bring in old or broken down used computer and consumer electronics equipment, electrical appliances, etc and mount an awareness and education campaign to encourage Malaysians to use these facilities with respect.


Purple Haze said...

Its good that IT Sheiss suggests to the Selangor Pakatan govr to mandate certain activities to keep the state green.

What about the other 12 states and FT ? Are they already serious about the environment or is it only Selangor ?

BTW, there is an ongoing controversy in Pahang regarding an Australian comapany's investment in an activity that can potentially harm the environment and people even more than what the Selangor govt could possibly curtail. Should we not direct our attention and efforts to reduce or
eliminate that threat ?

And in HL's dear Sabah state, fish bombing is severely damaging pristine coral reefs off the coast. Can we tell the BN Sabah govt to stop that ? After all, the BN govt keeps spending more and more of the rakyat's money to buy more subs and ships and other defence equipment.

The point is, dear IT Sheis, let us direct our efforts to protect our country's environment to ALL the relevant parties, not just the PR backed govts.

SM said...

Hl,

Fully agree!
The Supermarkets charging the 20cents on Sats & Suns just gives them added revenue.
We usd recycled Bags throughout the week but most Malaysian don't & many don't on weekends either because the 20cents charged is a joke!