SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY 

Our environment, social and business responsibilities 

The Green Thing - A little “Green” Humor 

In the line at the store, the young cashier told the older woman customer that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman customer apologized and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." The cashier responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment." As the customer left she reflected the cashier was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk, soda and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilized and refilled, so the producer could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But, we didn't have the green thing back in our day. 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, 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 the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But, 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 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 a wadded up old newspaper 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, we didn't have the green thing back then. We drank from the facet or fountain when we were thirsty instead of using 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 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn't it sad current generations seem to think how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?