Baby Boomers were great recyclers!
 

Our generation was ahead of its time when it came to recycling!

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 recycled.
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.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the

throw-away 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.

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.

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.

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 2,000

miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation sometimes laments how wasteful we old

folks were just because we didn't have “the green thing” back then?

Remember: It’s not nice to make old people mad.
WE DON'T LIKE BEING OLD IN THE FIRST PLACE, SO IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO
**** US OFF. :)

I loved you post as it really tells us how times have changed especially,

And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember

them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. :1rotfl:

I agree - I loved that post too.

I admit that I have a wide screen TV the size of Montana (62") but now they're making them the size of Alaska.

Remember real GLASS Coca Cola bottles ?

Yes I remember glass Coca Cola bottles. I also remember that if you didn't want to drink the whole thing, you couldn't screw the cap on and save it for later.

quirky3:

I'm of the era before Baby Boomers. We may be talking "pre-historic," you know!

When our kids were babies, we didn't wash their diapers, either - we used a service; certainly not eco-friendly, but mighty convenient!

My lawn mower wasn't hard to push, nor was it an ecological "nightmare!" It was electric; I was fortunate to have a yard small enough to allow its 150-foot cord!

When I was a pre-teen, I did take the streetcar to school! It was virtually unheard of for any one to be driven to school - remember, there was gas rationing, way back then!

When my wife and I bought a 60-year-old house in 1962, each room had originally had only one electric outlet, but additional outlets had been added over the years - by making a channel through the original plaster to the new added location.

Memories flood in as I think back to those days!

SWR
:beer3:

Well said.

Hey SWR! It was so nice to meet you at Crisper's in November! Hope your cruise was as much fun as you expected!

Great post, Quirky. Cash back on those bottles too! Kept the neighborhood clean.

I seem to recall that Coke bottle deposit in Saigon was $2 each bottle - - - somebody could have made a mint if they carried Coke bottles in their duffle from the US instead of their military clothes.


.

Amen! Great post. Brings up some great memories (well, some not so great).

I remember when I first married and followed him to his post in Germany, I did my laundry on a rub board (some say scrub board). We also had "play clothes" and "good clothes". Our parents clothes were also often recycled by us to use to play "dress up". We also saved our gum for days until we wore it out before we could get a new piece. Mother had what we called "the junk drawer" in the kitchen where you could find most anything from various lengths of string to rubber bands to old washers to whatever else might come in handy sometime.

..You can STILL buy the COKE "jblum" is talking about.

..I REMEMBER buying the "REAL THING" Sunday ( Dec-04-2011 ).

REAL natural SUGAR (from cane sugar).....
REAL HOUR-GLASS shaped BOTTLE...(355 ml).....
OLD fashioned bottle cap.

We get it at Wal-Mart in Sebastian FL...... EVERY time we go FISHIN'.
We call Wal-Mart and order it in advance... they get it for us from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico...

YUP...the "REAL THING" is still made in OTHER countries...... for distribution all over the world. Has to be special ordered for delivery in the U.S.A. ( USA made Coke has High Fructose Corn Syrup )

By the way........Deep Sea AND Intercoastal Waterway fishing out of Sebastian will still be EXCELLENT until the 9th of Dec. ( unless the WAY off-shore storms subside ) ........ We just MIGHT have left a FEW fish out down there for y'all.

Great post Quirky.

My family used bread bags for left over stuff and then washed them and used them again. Those plastic zip ones were unheard of.

AND my family ate leftovers.

The furnace wasn't stoked until morning, so quilts were really made of no longer used clothing and not new stuff and those quilts were really needed as the house cooled down during the night.

We mulched the roses with coffee grounds.

We ate cakes and pies and dinners that were made from scratch. We washed the dishes after in the sink and dried them with a towel.

Furniture was passed down and not thrown out. Newlywed couples were frequently given a basket of groceries as a wedding gift.

The mailmen walked.

Yes!
 

Yes, I remember saving lots of things for re-use. My Mom had a wooden "button box" that I loved to go through to see all the different kinds of buttons. My Dad saved scraps of wood from small building projects, and they always came in handy later on. I still do that today!

My dad was a hoarder of small parts, and as a result I can't remember the last time I had to go to a hardware store for nuts and bolts, etc. I have 3 generations of tools in my garage, from my materrnal grandfather, my dad and myself.

My mom always told my dad, "I hope I'm the one that goes first, because I don't want to clean all this stuff out." It didn't turn out that way.

I believe the new ones are 80 inches.

There are so big you have to watch them from another room, house or state. :)