On Recycling…

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

The woman apologized 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.”

She was right — our generation didn’t have the green thing in its day.

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, sterilized, and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over.  So they really were recycled.

But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks.  This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.

But too bad we didn’t do the green thing back then.

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.

But she was right.  We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throwaway 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.

But that young lady is right: we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we 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 (remember them?), 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.

But she’s right: we didn’t have the green thing back then.

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 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.

Back then, 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.  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.

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?

Please forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart-alack young person…

We don’t like being old in the first place, so it doesn’t take much to chap our butts.

This is a small list of some of the items commonly tossed out or donated by a family that will often sell for decent money during one of our sales….please do not trash these items….rather leave them for us to handle.

45s
78s
acorns
advertising
albums
ambrio-types
ammunition or boxes
animal bones
any chemicals
anything holiday
aprons
aquarium stands
aquariums
art brushes
art paper
art supplies
artwork
ashtrays
Avon bottles
badges
bake-lite anything
baking pans
ball-bearings
bamboo
banks
barbed wire
bar-guides
barometers
baskets
b-b guns and bbs,
holsters
beakers
beer cans
beer lights and signs
benches
bibles
bikes or bike items
birdcages
birdhouses
birds
bobbins
bolo ties
book ends
book marks
books
boxes or crates
Boyscout items
braces
bricks
broken glass
broken lamps
broken necklaces
brooms or mops
buckets
cameras
camping tools
camping gear
candles
cards
carved wood
casino items
cast iron or other pans
cds, vhs, beta items
celluloid anything
ceramics
chain or cable
chemicals
chemistry sets
chopsticks
chrome anything
circus items
clay
cleaners
clocks or clock parts
clothes
clothes lines
clothes racks
coasters
coins
coke bottles
coke bottle tops
combs, brushes
comics
compasses
concert ticket stubs
cookbooks
cords or electric plugs
costumes
cowboy anything
crab traps or nets
cracker jack toys
craft items
creoles
crochet items
crutches
curling irons
curtain rods
curtain tie backs
curtains
cutting boards
daguerrotypes
darners
darts or dart boards
dentures
dice
dice cups
Disneyland anything
dog anything
doll house misc
door knobs
drift wood
dusters
electric fans
embroidery
empty jewelry boxes
empty cigar boxes
empty vintage boxes
enamel ware
envelopes and stationary
spurs or tack
exercise equipment
eye glass cases
eye glasses
Farberware
feathers
fence parts
file cabinets
file folders
film canisters
finials
fishing poles
flags
flashlights
flower frogs
fly-tying misc.
fly-swatters
foil
foil wrap
folding chairs
folding tables
food items
foreign money
fortunes
fridge jars
fruit crate labels
fruit pickers
funnels
galvanized anything
games
garden furniture
garden implements
garden items
gas station items
gift wrap or cards
girl scout
glass fruit
glasses
globes
gloves
glue sticks
gold teeth
gun cleaning kits
guns/parts
hair barrettes
hair combs
handcuffs
handles
hankies
hardware in general
hat boxes
hats
Hawaiiana
hearing aids
helmets or cycle items
hood ornaments
hooks
horse items
horse shoes
horse troughs
hubcaps
human bones
hunting items
ice crusher
ice trays
Indian baskets
ink
insulators
jars
jewelry costume or real
jim beam bottles
juicer
key chains
kites
knife sharpeners
knitting items
labels
lace
ladders
lanterns
leather scraps
lenses
leopard anything
letter openers
Levi anything
license plates
lighters
linens
loose beads
luggage
lures
magazines
makeups
maps or mapbooks
marble
marbles
marital aids
matchbooks or sticks
material
medicines
membership anything
metals or pins
milk cans
milk jars
mirrors
mixers
movie posters
nail-files
nail-clippers
nails
napkin rings
needles
needlework
newspapers
notebooks
nutcrackers
nuts
oil buckets
oil cans
oil jars
oil pour spout
oils
old bank passports
old barn wood
old bottles
old candy boxes
old car parts
old catalogs or phone books
old cigar boxes
old cigarette wrappers
old credit cards
old gum wrappers
old hangars
old keys or locks
old licenses
old light bulbs
old makeup containers
old military items
old movies or film
old or broken frames
old or broken furniture
old packaging
old school books
old sponges
old televisions
old televisions
old tickets
old tins
old wallets/purses
old windows
paint
paint brushes
paint stripper remover
paper
paper fans
paperbacks
paperclips
patriotic items
patterns
pencils
pens/writing implements
pennies
perfumes
phones
photos
piano parts
pictures holders
pillows
pins
pipe cleaners
pipes and smoking items
pitchers
plant stands
plastic
plastic fruit
plate holders
playing cards
plows
pocket knives
poker chips
political items
post cards
prescription eyeglasses
prosthetic anything
purses
quilts or blankets
radio television tubes
radios
rags
railroad items
rattan
rawhide
record dusters
records
religious items
rock polisher
rocks
rope, twine, string
rosaries
rubber-bands
rugs
rulers
safety pins
sandpaper
scarves
scissors
scrap ivory
screen doors
screws
sculptures
seeds
sewing items
shades
shakers
shaving kits
sheet music
shells
shoeshine equipment
shot glasses
signs
silk flowers or plants
silver filled teeth
silverware
skulls
slide projector or screen
slide trays
slides
small appliances
snow shoes and skis
soaps
socks
soda bottles
souvenirs
spice tins
spools
sports cards
sports equipment
stained glass
stamps
stepstools
stereos
sterling anything
stir sticks
street signs
string
strops and straight razors
stuffed animals
suitcases
tackle boxes
tapes
taxidermy
tea strainers
thermometers
thread
ties
tile
tins
toasters
toiletries
tools
toupes
toys and dolls
tramp art or folk art
traps
travel bags and cases
travel memorabilia
tree trimmers
Tupperware
turquoise
TV guides
tv trays
typewriters
uniforms
utensils
vases
vibrators
waffle irons
wagons
wallets
watch bands
watch cases
watch fobs
watches
water jugs
watering cans
wax fruit
wheelbarrow
wheelchairs
wicker
wind-chimes
window screens
wire of any kind
wood
wrapping paper, bows
wringer washers
wrought iron
yard sticks
yarn