Were you "green" without thinking about it?

Question

Before it became cause de rigueur for the climate change and eco bullys, before the govenments discovered a new cash cow. Even before it was just trendy.

From saving milk bottle tops to wearing hand-me-downs. From growing runner beans in the back garden to walking to the corner shop. From jumble sales to walking to school. The list could and will go on.

Care to add to it.

Answer 1

Definitely - being 'green' has always been second nature to me.  

Waste not want not, AKA 'thrift', occasionally 'necessity'

Examples:

Removing screws, buttons, zips, trimmings.

Turning sheets sides to middle.

Bath towels (and nappies) end up as hand towels, floor cloths, cleaning cloths or flannels.  

Last November I collected up the rockets (fireworks) that landed in my garden, because by removing the firework part the sticks could be used as plant supports.

Answer 2

Yes,only because in the 70's when growing up we were hard up.

Answer 3

yes

i think it was how i was brought up

Answer 4

Yep and it was because I looked around growing up and most people made me dispair, including my own family.

Answer 5

None of it matters, the world has had it now, we're on the slippery slope and there's no way back.  As is usual, human greed has flogged the workhorse to death and soon we will reap what we've sewn.

Answer 6

no, but i get blue sometimes when i think about it...

Answer 7

I have always and will always buy second hand household goods and clothes.

I just can't really see the point in paying all that money for a new item when I can pay less for one that nobody needs anymore.

My son also says (he is 15), why have one new one for that amount, when I can have five used ones for less (usually meaning clothes).

Also we are a family of three, but most reciepes are for four people, I always savea  tub full and we have a left over night.  Saving time, money and fuel!

Answer 8

The plastic bag banishment was fought and won, then lost again over a  decade ago... What's next? The climate freindly disposal of CD's on account of the odd fresh water trout being caught in the hole at the middle? After all, we have on-line storage these days so why do we need CD's (circa 1988, less than 2 decades ago, or am I missing the CD nostalgia parties up and down the Nation?)

It isn't the production or availability of harmful products that risk the environment, but our considered, responsible and ethical waste management abilities that are woefully at fault.

We have, inherent to our skills as chemists, to dispose of plastic, that not only address environmental issues but address the issues of a self sustaining product that is NON toxic.

But the labour sh*i house, sorry, Government want you to forget that small but entirely valid fact.

Answer 9

Yep. I've  been green since before the term was coined. Always looking for cheap and ways to recycle whatever I need into existence.

Answer 10

most probably when i was a child, nearly always had second hand clothes, we used to grow our own veg and flowers and always wore lots of layers of clothes instead of putting the heating on too soon!

we never had playstations/computers(which use the electricity!) etc i was quite happy with my two tennis balls!

and always used our local corner shop which was the co-op and we used to get stamps!

Answer 11

I've only become 'green' over the past few years. I think it had more to do with growing up though... when I was younger I was generally a selfish brat but since the end of my teens I grew out of it and realized how self indulgent the human race is. I decided this is something to be ashamed of rather than celebrated. I hate fashion and by no means follow trends but in this particular case I'm happy my beliefs coincide with the new green trend. Most people are misguided... their intentions may not be correct but if it helps the environment even in the slightest then that can only be a good thing. Now if only being vegan was the new fashion then that would do even more good to the environment!

Answer 12

I grew up in a single parent household. We had to be fugl which really goes hand-in-hand with being green. It amazes me the amount of money people spend to be able to claim the title of "green". Living sustainably should be cheaper!

Answer 13

Having been brought up during the War years where everything was re-used, cut down or handed down, nothing ever thrown away "it might come in useful", I must admit to being a hoarder.

elastic bands thrown away by the postman on his round

opening up a sugar bag to get the last few grains from the folds,  we have a sinkerator, and solar panels for heating water.

Reusing all foil containers in the oven, again and again

string rolled onto an ever enlarging ball

Envelopes saved to use the backs as shopping lists and then turned inside out to use the insides!

I still darn socks and when they are too disreputable they make good, over the hand mittens for dusting

Jars washed and saved to make chutney and jams

Pretty jars washed and saved to make kitchen food storage

jars

Plastic-lidded jars s***w into a garage shelf for undershelf storage of nails, nuts and screws

My father's old tobacco tins, now labelled, dress-making pins, safety pins, etc.  Dad died in 1982

Cardboard boxes opened up make good scratching posts for the cats

Plastic salad ingredients boxes from the supermarket with holes made in the bottom used for propagating seeds.  Grow potatoes in a large tub in the garden, runner beans grow up the fence between climbing plants, fruit bushes between the flowering shrubs, alpine strawberries in the rockery, even the dandelions and nasturtiums go into salad.  Left over veges are frozen till I have enough to make thick nourishing soups.

Plastic kitchen bags, washed and reused.  And have always carried folding shopping bags for shopping trips.

I cycled the 5 miles to school and everywhere else.

Getting brain-washed into saving when you are young, carries on into old age.

Answer 14

we were always careful and avoided being wasteful as my dad left my mum with 5 kids with the youngest still in nappies.

I wore my cousins clothes and then passed them down (the youngest cousins who are 15 years younger than me would never dare wear 'used clothes'...how common, goes to show changes in recent times)

We didnt waste food as there wasnt the moiney to buy more so making use of left overs was a must.

We didnt have a working car so walked to shops, school, bus to supermarket or open market

Also as there werent really computers and video consoles, I was out every night runnin round, climbing trees and was so tired i went straight to bed....prob saved a bomb in electricity

This is the best...one of my favourite things to do with my dad was take the glass to be recycled as it made a cool smashy noise. Didnt do it coz we had to, it was just the done thing

Answer 15

Yes It's my second nature. My dad is a big environmentalist. He lives humble, eats meat only occasionally, does not own a car, takes public transportation.  I do many things he does. I reduce, reuse and recycle. I don't buy cheap stuff only to have it land in the trashcan after a short time. Every decision I make I keep Mother Earth in mind, because "good planets are hard to find!"

Answer 16

I do a larger step to avoid stepping on a bug or ants, I used to ask my dad to switch off the car engine when waiting for someone, I'd go to school on foot even on a cold day, I eat only seasonal food.  But i refuse to pay the carbon taxes on flights.  I just think someone just wants to make money.