Edouard Bastarache on thu 7 apr 11
The Green Thing=3D20
In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that =
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her plastic bags weren't good for the environment she should be using =3D
cloth ones. The woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have =3D
the green thing back in my day."
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That's right, they didn't have the green thing in her day. Back =3D
then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to =
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the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and =3D
sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they =3D
really were recycled. But they didn't have the green thing back in her =3D
day.
In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an =3D
escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery =
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store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had =
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to go two blocks. But she's right. They didn't have the green thing in =3D
her day.
Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have =
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the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy =3D
gobbling machine burning up 220 volts "wind and solar power" really did =3D
dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or =3D
sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right, they =
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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 =3D
every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not =3D
a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended =3D
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 =3D
the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or =3D
plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to =
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cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They =3D
exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run =3D
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 =3D
using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. =3D
They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they =3D
replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole =3D
razor just because the blade got dull. But they didn't have the green =3D
thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to =3D
school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a =3D
24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an =3D
entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need =
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a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 =3D
miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But that =3D
old lady is right. They didn't have the green thing back in her day.
OMG...that was MY day too!
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Perhaps Wal-Mart and all the grocery stores should insist that =3D
their suppliers package their products using Green containers instead of =
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trying to sell us those Green containers.
Gis,
Edouard Bastarache=3D20
Spertesperantisto=3D20
Sorel-Tracy
Quebec
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http://edouardbastarache.blogspot.com/
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http://blogsalbertbastarache.blogspot.com/
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