Earth Day and Being Green

I got this email and wanted to share...

> 
> *How Wasteful the Older Generation Was ... *
>
> In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that she should
> bring her own grocery bag because plastic bags weren't good for the
> environment. The woman apologized to him 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."
>
> He was right, that generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
>
> Back then, they returned their 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 recycled.
>
> But they didn't have the green thing back in that customer's 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 was 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 hankerchief, 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 a wadded
> up old 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 their
> writing 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 or a bus 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 isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful the old folks
> were just because they didn't have the green thing back then?