What a Waste

My grandparents had the same phone in their home for 40 years.
My parents never wasted a thing.

From Facebook:
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment.
The woman apologized to the young girl 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."

The older lady went on to explain:
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 recycled.

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.

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 our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen, 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.

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 blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked. 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.

A well deserved scold
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Comments (21)

Quality...uh oh cheers
electronics today is amazing,,but I must say I cried when 8 track tapes went out...
Post,


thumbs up thumbs up sigh
Great blog and very true!thumbs up I got lots of excercise walking or riding my bike. Yes, those were the days!yay Ice cream sundaes and malts at the malt shop. We could buy homemade malt ice cream for .30 cents a quart!yay Yes those were the days!!!!!
When I got married in the early 60s I washed Terry nappies/diapers by hand till the skin came off my hands, boiled them in a pan on the stove to get them white, then dried them on a line outdoors, dried them in front of the fire if it was raining. We had no central heating only a coal fire in one room. The toilet was outdoors, 100 yards away from the house. We had no car and I had to walk with a pram 1 mile away to the food shop no matter the weather, no fridge. We bathed once a week in a zinc bath that we kept outside.

No phones, no computers, we had a small screen TV that we paid for by putting coins in a box.
It is a true saying, what you never had, you never miss. O my! I was so very happy, life was sunshine everyday to me, young in love with my husband and a little baby girl, it was like playing house to me.
My husbands wage was £10 a week at the time.

This is my kinda blog, a trip down memory lane, love it. Thanks for sharing.
post
The old world of doing things is making a come back!!...farm to table ideology chefs which means using local ingredients...solar heating and wind energy...bottle returns also coming back in style...organics as well...people are concerned about their carbon footprint and I hope this will continue the momentum!!...as for technology...I love the internet but do dislike our reliance on cell phones as a form of communicating...I hope schools will employ more physical sports regardless of the cost...we are turning the children today into obese and lethargic people that will have a multitude of health problems in their future...city planning is also to blame...most cities you have to drive cars to get to stores...one thing I enjoy about Vancouver...I can walk to the local market and ride my bike due to more bike lanes...the city is evolving to accommodate a greener way of getting around!!wine
Thanks for childhood reminders. I am surprised all the time. As there were no cell phones earlier, but always knew who died and who was born.dunno
Knew when at whom birthday. Not who did not call in school or a garden. Now each school student has phone, in each house some TVs and machines. But also people became angrier, and are not benevolent.
Have we met before, Dreamcatcher? wink
Thanks for reading, Twazzle and Wen.
8-track, Betamax, VCR,CD DVD,Blueray uh oh
I remember parts of the world you describe, Wallops and Titania. Sure we were happy, but using that wringer washer was drudgery. I can't imagine a washboard.
Thanks, Crazy thumbs up
Lots of bike adventures, Jim.
Now my family has a fleet of cars
I'm starting to see that, Lou. People are "voting" with their purchases and other choices that they make. Eat less and eat well, and you don't need rock bottom prices for food. thumbs up
I guess it's e-Rage, Umm. blues

This is cool. Comments from 3 continents!
In your dreams maybe? batting batting batting
That's it!
In my dreams!

banana
A little late but...
Embedded image from another site
Can't see what it is.....blues help
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Meet the Author of this Blog
postneoludite

postneoludite

West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

I'm a quiet sort, somewhat bookish and prefer small groups of people.
I enjoy the outdoors if I have a bed to which I can return, reading, used book stores, book stores, cycling, movies, travel, DIY. I'm fitter than average.
I do enjoy a good laugh [read more]

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created Feb 2015
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