This new-fangled ‘Green Thing’ or just the King’s Clothes?

image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

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

The woman apologised and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.”

The young cashier 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, lemonade bottles and beer bottles to the shop. The shop sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilised 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 shops bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we re- Used for numerous things, most memorable besides household bags for rubbish, 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 personalise 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 a lift in every supermarket, shop and office building. We walked to the local shop and didn’t climb into a 300 horsepower machine every time we had to go half a mile.

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

Back then, we washed the baby’s Terry Towel nappies because we didn’t have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 3 kilowatts – wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids had 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.

image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Back then, we had one radio or TV in the house – not a TV in every room and the TV had a small screen the size of a big handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Scotland 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 petrol just to cut the lawn. We pushed the 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 tap or 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.

image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their Mums into a 24-hour taxi service in the family’s £50,000 ‘People Carrier’ which cost the same as a whole house did before the “green thing.” 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 computerised gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pub!

But isn’t it sad that 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 arse young person…

We don’t like being old in the first place, so it doesn’t take much to piss us off…especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smart-arse who can’t work out the change without the cash register telling them how much it is!

Here endeth the bloody lesson!

Why Should People Recycle Paper?

Thankfully, paper is not a difficult material to recycle, and there are excellent benefits for the environment when the procedure is completed. Once it has been collected (by either your local authority or a recycling company acting on their behalf), it is taken to a paper mill, who take care of the rest of the recycling process.

Once at the mill, the scrap paper is added to water and then turned into pulp. The recycled paper is then screened, cleaned and de-inked through a number of processes until it is found suitable for papermaking. The final stage of the paper recycling process is for the pulp to be turned back into rolls of paper, which can then be used for newspapers, toilet rolls, etc.

So, now that you know how simple the recycling process for paper is, lets look at benefits that it brings…

Saves Trees – The less brand new (referred to as ‘virgin’) paper that is needed, the less trees have to be cut down. Vast areas have already been ruined as a direct of deforesting for paper, and this needs to stop as by doing so we are unbalancing eco-systems and the atmosphere.

Wildlife Preservation – More often than not, the wildlife that lives in the trees that are cut down to make ‘new’ paper, die quickly because they cannot adapt to living anywhere else. Recycling paper means that they can die natural deaths instead of forced ones.

Saves Space – Recycling paper reduces space in landfills. 1 ton of recycled paper made from scraps can save 3 cubic yards.

Less Pollution – Burning paper in waste incinerators pumps masses of pollution into the air. That means that we are unnecessarily causing the air that we all breathe to be of a lower quality.

Creates Jobs – Think about all the people who work within the paper recycling industry. Collectors, sorters and machine operators being just a few of them. The more that we recycle, the more of these jobs there will be created.

Paper Logs – Many people are now turning to paper logs as a supplementary fuel source. Consisting of tightly compressed briquettes of paper, these logs can be thrown on a fire or used in a wood burner to provide heat for free.

Cheaper Paper – Recycled paper is often cheap to purchase. Buying cheaper, recycled goods encourages more recycled goods to be manufactured, sustaining the recycling industry.

http://www.paperlogmaker.org.uk is a website dedicated to the recycling of paper. At their site you can find out what a paper log maker is and how it can help you recycle paper.

Global Warming vs Natural Climate Change

by Janet Corby

Do you ever feel like you know just enough about global warming to be dangerous? Let’s see if we can fill in some of the gaps with the latest info from real global warming experts.

Scientists, together with us environmentalists, are constantly warning politicians that time is running up but that doesn’t seem to bother them, especially now in times of recession. Revive economy or save the planet? Scientists and economists can agree with Buddhist monks and Christian activists that ruthless destruction of natural habitats is evil and careful preservation of birds and butterflies is good. The worldwide community of environmentalists-most of whom are not scientists-holds the moral high ground, and is guiding human societies toward a hopeful future. Scientists are human; they do not wait for proof. Many devote their professional lives to seeking evidence for hypotheses, especially well-funded hypotheses, they’ve chosen to believe.

Temperatures were high at that time due to the peculiarities of the Earth’s orbit. During the Pliocene (2-5Ma) before the Quaternary ice age began, temperatures were also significantly warmer than today. Temperatures have steadily increased at around a quarter of a degree for every 1,000 years. During the last 100 years temperatures have increased by twice that amount.

Think about what you’ve read so far. Does it reinforce what you already know about global warming causes? Or was there something completely new? What about the remaining paragraphs?

Human activities have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the build-up of greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed although uncertainties exist about exactly how earth’s climate responds to them. Humans measure warmth as temperature which is a measure of the amount of heat contained in a physical object. One can envision this concept by thinking of a pot on a stove.

Global warming is one of the most hotly debated issues today. Cars have been identified as one of the leading contributors to the escalating global warming problem. Global warming is a huge risk. We’re not just talking about retiring our winter coats in favour of lighter jackets. Global warming is one of those era-defining issues for which perception is reality. And if that perception shifts-and it could shift quickly-the economic impact on energy companies will be swift and lasting.

Global warming had changed their habitat, so to speak. Global warming, as you may already know is the process that describes the earth’s temperature rise. This rise in temperature is because of greenhouse grasses. Global warming and climate change are the biggest problem we are facing today well at least this is what scientists say. There are of course still some that do not believe in global warming and they look at it like some crazy invented thing made by Al Gore and other scientists.

So now you know a little bit about global warming causes. Even if you don’t know everything, you’ve done something worthwhile: you’ve expanded your knowledge.

About the Author:

Janet Corby is the author of this article. EnergySavingSite.info asks is global warming real and offers information on the natural causes of global warming. You have permission to reprint this article provided all links are kept.