What was the world like when our parents weren't "green"

     Take a second and try to imagine how our world was fifty years ago. Back before recycling and global warming. Back before our world was "green".
     Back then our parents 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 we could use the same bottle over and over. But back then our parents weren't green.
     Our parents walked up stairs because we didn't have an escalator or elevator in every store or office building. They didn't climb into a 300hp SUV every time they had to go two blocks. But back then our parents weren't green.
     Back then our parents washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried the clothes on a line, not a 220v energy gobbling machine - 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 back then our parents weren't green.
     Back then our parents had one TV or radio in the house - not a TV in every room. And the TV had less than a 19" screen. Not something that took up the entire wall and required surround sound and theater seating. But back then our parents weren't green.
     In the kitchen our parents blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have a machine that did everything for them.
     Back then when our parents wanted to send a package by mail they used a crumpled up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam peanuts or plastic bubble wrap. But back then our parents weren't green.
     Back then our parents didn't fire up a gas burning engine just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working hard so they didn't need to go to a gym and run on a treadmill that uses electricity. But back then our parents weren't green.
     Back then our parents drank from glasses or a water fountain when they were thirsty instead of a disposable plastic cup or bottle.
     Back then our parents refilled pens with ink instead of buying a new pen and they had one or two electrical  outlets in a room, not a bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computer with Wi-fi to receive a signal beamed from a satellite 2,000 miles out in space just to find a pizza joint.
     It's too bad back then our parents just weren't "green".

           Pax et defencio libertatis/Peace and the defense of liberty