A few months ago I was asked to speak to a group of seniors about going green. About 10 women with a median age of 80 greeted me and said earnestly, "We're so happy you're here. We really want to learn how to be green."
And so I began my introduction; "How many of you have a garden?", "How many of you get your shoes re-soled instead of buying a new pair?", "How many of you keep an empty box to use for future mailings?", "Did your younger children wear the out-grown clothes of their older siblings?" And so it went. You get the gist of the conversation. All these ladies were so excited to discover that they've been green for years.
A colleague recently commented that when people think about going green they think about installing solar panels on their house. The notion of green confuses and scares them. Who's got money to pay for solar panels these days? Well, here at snappy green, we're here to remind you that you've probably been green for years and maybe didn't realize it.
Take my mother for instance. A practical woman if there ever was one. Like a lot of mothers on our block on Staten Island, she had a solar powered clothes dryer. "Why waste electricity on such a beautiful day. I'll dry these sheets in God's sunshine and they'll be beautiful by Noon" No argument there. Who doesn't like the smell of line dryed sheets
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We were a family of 5 children but my mother, a child of the depression, cooked for 10. Plus you never knew who might stop by. Waste food-never. She carefully wrapped left over food, placed it in the fridge and the next day announced "Repeat Performance Tonight."
My mother had a draw full of bakery string used for a myriad of purposes such as school projects, fixing the cookoo clock and pulling loose baby teeth.
If she walked into a well-lit empty room she'd yell, "We don't have stock in Con Edison. Turn the lights off when you leave a room please." Auto timers for room lights? My mother would think that madness. And she'd be right. Why can't people turn off the light themselves?
I don't believe my mother ever bought glass cleaner. She cleaned the windows with vinegar and water wiped clean with balled-up newspaper. And her windows sparkled.
So here's your tip for the day. If you want to be green, go ask the original greenies, the children of the depression. Go talk to your grandmother.
Have a tip you learned from one of the original greenies? Post it here. And turn those lights off-it looks like luna park in here!
