'The Green Thing': A Response

I have now received the same email (posted at the bottom of this post) several times. In a way, it is sort of cute, just as so many of the ones are that make their way around that essentially should all begin with "Why in my day..."Aside from the cute aspect, I always have the same internal reaction to it, and this time decided to reply. Here are my thoughts:

This is an interesting look back at the ways that society used to make reusing and recycling the norm. The current 'green thing' is a reaction to the tragedy of many wasteful and damaging practices that have been accelerating since the advent of the industrial revolution and the triumph of hyper-consumerism - particularly within American culture, which has accelerated since the 1950s. Quite right on all of the observations that are made.

The unfortunate part of it (as well as the pleasure and vindication that it gives to those who repeatedly circulate this email) is that it is entirely beside the point. Sure, one might be able to find the 'clerk' who makes this sort of comment (which is counterproductive), and then fixate on why 'it wasn't our fault'. But defensiveness about what was done 50 years ago is absolutely useless for moving forward with 'the green thing' today.

What are you doing now? Our planet is in peril. Our society and economy are in serious jeopardy because our patterns of consumption are both unsustainable and self-destructive. This sort of defensiveness as well as the denial of the problem and the absolute necessity of the solution that is perpetuated by those who stand to financially lose to social and environmental responsibility contributes nothing constructive. And what we need is constructive contribution. We need personal responsibility.

So bring your own grocery bags to the grocery store, instead of relying on petroleum-made plastic bags that are thrown on top of our overflowing landfills.

Recycle, your bottles, cans, etc. when you use them, and think about ways to reduce your reliance on them.

Walk up the damn stairs. They're still there.

Dry your clothes on a drying line when it is reasonable to do so. They are still there.

Use cloth diapers. They are still there (and made even better than they used to be).

Give clothes and other items that you are done with to friends, family, Goodwill or some other resale location, so that they can be reused.

Get clothes and other items that you need and that can be used from friends, family, Goodwill or some other resale location, so that you are reusing.

Don't put a TV in every room. It is not only bad for the environment, it is bad for your mind and your family's relationships.

Pack fragile things in newspaper. It is a great way to reuse it, and to avoid styrofoam, bubble wrap, etc. Used newspaper and other other forms of paper are still there.

Use a push mower. They are still there.

Walk or ride a bike when you can.

Exercise outside if you can.

Be a part of your community. Get out there. Take responsibility. Not only will you figure out on your own where the nearest pizza joint is, you will develop relationships that TV and the Internet don't replace.

More than this, figure out what else you can do to make your community and our planet more healthy. The time is now. Get over who is at fault and your gut impulse to pretend that the problem doesn't exist. Sure. It seems really inconvenient and painful to change your habits. But once you make these sorts of changes, they don't seem so overwhelming.

Don't expect that it will all happen immediately. Treat it as an ongoing process of becoming more socially and environmentally responsible. God knows that none of us are perfect. We are all working on bettering ourselves.

BUT DO IT! Our children and grandchildren are depending on us. If for nothing else, do it for them.

And here is the email to which this is responding:

THE GREEN THING!!!

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 handkerchief, 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?