In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman
that plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The
woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the
green thing back in my day."

That's right, they didn't have the green thing in her day.
Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles,
and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to
the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using
the same bottles over and over. So they really were
recycled. But they didn't have the green thing back in her
day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have
an escalator in every store and office building. They walked
to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower
machine every time they had to go two blocks. But she's
right: they didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they
didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a
line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts
- 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 that old lady is right: they
didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they 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
pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana.
In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because
they didn't have electric machines to do everything for
them. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail,
they used wadded-up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam
or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline
just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on
human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need
to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on
electricity. But she's right: they didn't have the green
thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty instead of
using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink
of water. They refilled pens with ink instead of buying a
new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor
instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the
blade got dull. But they didn't have the green thing back
then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their
bikes to school or rode the school bus instead of turning
their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one
electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets
to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a
computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from
satellites 2,000 miles out in space just to find the nearest
pizza joint.

But that old lady is right: they didn't have the green thing
back in her day.