Monday, April 30, 2012

SUNDAY FUNNIES: IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN

Digging Planet Earth
Hello Everybody! Autumn the Puppy here.
Now last Sunday was Earth Day, where humanity paused to think about this planet and how we all can pitch in to make the world a better (and more livable) place for ourselves and our prosperity.
The following was sent to me after the initial article was run, but it's too good to wait until next Earth Day to post it.
Therefore, I present to you now:
"THE GREEN THING"



Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own paper grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The gray haired woman apologized and explained, “We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days.”

The clerk responded, “That's our problem today. Your generation didn't care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

“You may be right,” began the old woman, “our generation didn't have the green thing.

“Back when I was even younger than you are now, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles, and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plants to be washed, sterilized, and refilled so they could reuse 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,” continued the older woman. “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 outside, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. And our kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not brand-new clothing every time they needed something or just to keep up with the latest fashion trend.

“Back then, we had one TV or a radio in the house. Not a TV in every room. And that TV did not have a screen the size of Montana,” said the lady. "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. But we didn't have the green thing 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 and 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 one, 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.

“I remember 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,” said the old lady. “We usually had just one electrical outlet per room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen different appliances all at once. 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 the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?” the old lady asked, as she finished putting her purchases into reusable tote bags before walking away.

The Sunday Funnies will return next weekend.-AtP.

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