This "green Thing"

[carzes]

Ok, Think locally, act locally. Just act.

How about just THINK! The rest should come as a natural consequence of reasoned thought.

 

[carzes]

When Christopher Columbus 'Discovered' America in1492 the native Indian (so named only because said 'Discoverer' thought he was in India) was already spread 'from sea to shining sea'. The lodge, teepee, or whatever abode, belonged to the woman of the house, white man called Squaw, she was responsible for all domestic duties. The man hunted and fished and was responsible to 'bring home the bacon'. White man shows up and thinks he can improve on this system. When one of Lewis and Clarks party couldn't go back to St Louis after what he'd seen and instead 'Discovered' Yellowstone, there was a native 'Indian' (remember we're in India) standing behind a tree asking his buddy 'Who are those Pale Faces and what do they want?'
All it would have taken was for the natives at Plymouth Rock to invite the 'Pale Faces' to a Thanksgiving Feast, feed them some turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and some corn, wait for them to fall asleep and then three flaming arrows. One in the Nina one in the Pinta and one in the Santa Maria. Send word back to Spain. You are right.The world is flat. Sail over the horizon and fall of the edge of the earth. What a great country this would be. Of course we wouldn't be here, but still....

An interesting thought but not entirely grounded in reality. While we love to see the 'American' natives in a romanticized light these days, which is certainly better than how they have been viewed in some past times, it's never an entire picture of a culture. I mean no disrespect to our native american citizens by any means, I just like historical accuracy, since I think that is the only way to actually put things in perspective and learn from them. But if Christopher Columbus didn't lead the way for the European invasion at the end of the 16th century, then someone ELSE would have, and it wouldn't have been much longer. Educated people in Europe knew the world was spherical, and they were ready to go out and explore it. And if not Europeans, then someone else. China, for instance, would have ebentually gotten around to seeing what's on this side of the planet. And one you put a significantly more technologically advanced people into the space occupied by essentially a stone-age culture, we have seen again and again that history is not kind to the home team. And while it is true that many native societies tended toward a peaceful existance, had matriarchial tendencies, and had many very admirable qualities from which we should all learn, it is not entirely accurate to cherry-pick the good attributes from what were and are MANY verry different societies and cultures and try to paint one utopian picture out of the miriad tribes and nations. As with all humans, native Americans had both good and bad qualities, as individuals and as societies. All our human socities and the individuals that comprise them are capable of great kindness, and unfortunately, great brutality.

 

[hawg_ryder]

Ok first of all, let's forget the generational thing. Let's take it to it's bottom line. What are the individuals in whatever generation doing to help in "this green thing?" We need the people with degrees to come up with the big solutions, that's true, but we shouldn't and can't leave it up to them alone. The grass roots, the individual is just as vital. The little daily things we do determines a lot too. I can hear you say,"Oh yeah point out one big problem solved by the grass roots!". In 3 words, Give a hoot! If you were alive in the 60's your reply would be, "Don't Pollute! The highways of America were extremely trashed ridden, America was driving everywhere, and so was trash. Not just the Interstate system but everywhere. It was this "Give a hoot" campaign taken to heart by the common man, with a college education or not, that cleaned up the highways and byways. It took a while but it was done. (No, today's occasional trash along the highway is not in any way comparable to the late 50s/early 60s.) So forget the college degree or any such thing. The individual counts in this effort. The bit about the straight razor, cloth diapers and washing dishes by hand was said somewhat in jest but really not. The individual can and does make a difference. No one can or should hide behind age, social strata, college degree, race or belief as a reason for lack of personal action. It really isn't "this green thing" it's life as we know it and what we are willing to do to keep it?

I remember the "Give a Hoot Ads"... Ahh Nostalgia... Now in Texas for the last 28 years or so the State has had the "Don't Mess With Texas" ad campaign which has produced some pretty humorous but effective ads...

http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/about/the-campaign/ads/1991_confederateairforce.php
http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/about/the-campaign/ads/1992_bikers.php
http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/about/the-campaign/ads/1989_willienelson.php
http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/about/the-campaign/ads/1992_monster.php

I was born and raised in South Texas and remember how littered our highways were back then compared to now... This ad campaign, coupled with some pretty stiff fines if you're caught littering, changed public perception and has resulted in a much cleaner State... And for the remaining thoughtless folks that just don't get it, other programs like "Adopt a highway" try to clean up the litter that does get left by these people...

h_r

 

[Mike W]

I remember the "Give a Hoot Ads"... Ahh Nostalgia... Now in Texas for the last 28 years or so the State has had the "Don't Mess With Texas" ad campaign which has produced some pretty humorous but effective ads...

http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/about/the-campaign/ads/1991_confederateairforce.php
http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/about/the-campaign/ads/1992_bikers.php
http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/about/the-campaign/ads/1989_willienelson.php
http://www.dontmesswithtexas.org/about/the-campaign/ads/1992_monster.php

I was born and raised in South Texas and remember how littered our highways were back then compared to now... This ad campaign, coupled with some pretty stiff fines if you're caught littering, changed public perception and has resulted in a much cleaner State... And for the remaining thoughtless folks that just don't get it, other programs like "Adopt a highway" try to clean up the litter that does get left by these people...

h_r

The best ad was the Biker ad, followed by Willie. The most impressive visually was Condederate Air Force. The monster was fun. Yup, a contuing battle with litter, people just don't think or, maybe, care. Well done, Texas. The "green thing" one state, one person at a time.

 

[Hog]

Reminds me of something I recently posted - I will reprint it here -

“… 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 and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truly 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 scribbling's. 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?... “

 

[Jambe]

"...was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks."

I remember doing that!

 

[BrianRosenthal]

"...was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks."

I remember doing that!

Just helped my 9th grader do that this fall!

 

[CompTrex]

Just helped my 9th grader do that this fall!

I had to help my 8th grader buy a tablet for his e-books...

 

[Mike W]

I had to help my 8th grader buy a tablet for his e-books...

Now make a tablet cover from the brown grocery bags, you'll feel much better!

 

[Hog]

I haven't seen a brown bag in years, except the ones you get at the liquor store.