The following tale has been going around for months, if not years. I believe we can all relate.
While checking out, the young cashier advised the considerably elderly woman to bring her own shopping bags since disposable bags are bad for the environment. “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days,” the mother apologized to the small child, explaining, “we didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.”

“That’s our problem today,” said the young cashier. Your generation does not care enough about the environment to safeguard it for future generations.”

The elder woman said that she was correct—our generation did not have the “green thing” back then. The elderly woman continued to explain:

We used to take milk bottles, soda bottles, and beer bottles back to the shop. The business returned them to the facility to be cleaned, sanitized, and refilled, allowing it to reuse the same bottles. So they were really recycled. But there was no such thing as the “green thing” back then.

Grocery businesses packaged our goods in brown paper bags, which we reused for a variety of purposes. Aside from home waste bags, the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books was the most unforgettable. This was done to protect public property (the books given by the school for our use) from being defiled by our scribblings. Then we could customize our books on brown paper bags. But, unfortunately, we did not do the “green thing” back then.

We had to climb up the steps since not every shop and office building had an escalator. We walked to the grocery store instead of using a 300-horsepower vehicle every two blocks.

But she was correct. We didn’t have the “green thing” back then.

We used to wash the baby’s diapers since we didn’t have disposable ones. Rather than using a 220 volt machine that consumes a lot of energy, we dried our clothes on a line. Back in the day, we used wind and sunlight to dry our clothing. Children received hand-me-down clothing from their siblings and sisters rather than brand-new clothing.

But that young girl is correct; we did not have the “green thing” back then.

We just had one TV or radio in the home back then, not one in each room. And the TV had a handkerchief-sized screen (remember those?) rather than a screen the size of Montana. We blended and mixed by hand in the kitchen since we didn’t have electric equipment to do everything for us. To cushion a delicate item for mailing, we utilized wadded-up old newspapers rather than Styrofoam or synthetic bubble wrap. We didn’t start an engine and used fuel only to mow the grass back then. We utilized a push mower that was powered by human power. We exercised by working instead of going to a health club to run on treadmills powered by electricity.

But she’s correct; there was no “green thing” back then.

We drank from a fountain instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we needed a sip of water. We refilled writing pens with ink rather than purchasing a new pen, and we changed the razor blade in a razor rather than discarding the whole razor when the blade became dull.

But there was no “green thing” back then.

People used to take the streetcar or bus to school, and kids rode their bikes or walked instead of converting their mothers into a 24-hour taxi service in the family’s $45,000 SUV or van, which cost the same as a complete home before the “green thing.” We just had one outlet in the room, not a full bank of plugs to power a dozen pieces of equipment. And we didn’t need a computerized device to receive a signal from satellites 23,000 miles away in order to discover the closest burger place.

But isn’t it ironic that the younger generation bemoans how wasteful the older generation was simply because we didn’t have the “green thing” back then?

Please share this with another selfish elderly person who may benefit from a conservation lesson from a smart young kid.