I'm old so I'm not "GREEN"

[Loadstar]

It was not my intent to insult you, but to point out burning coal was perhaps a local phenomenon, especially as far as home heating was concerned... and that your point that a lot of today's environmental concerns are the product of yesterday's practices was right on. As for coal burning power plants, they are a good example. They are a left-over from an era when combustion products were emitted directly into the ambient air without any treatment...they are left over because they were (and are) tremendously expensive to build, maintain and modify and retrofitting them with pollution controls is also very expensive. Politics being what they are, such older plants were "grandfathered" to some extent and never completely retrofitted.

I hope you were being facetious when you said you burned old tires; open burning of tires is illegal in most or all jurisdictions.

No, no, no, I did not take it as an insult at all! Just tossing out talking points and debating a little. Yes I will burn an occasional tire to start a wet fire lol. Im not necessarily a environmental poster child.

 

[jinman]

I think Beltman60's story has a good (and funny) premise, but I suspect a checker would never give somebody a hard time about not bringing their own bags even at a store where there were no bags like Sam's Club or a Bag-N-Save grocery. If I were the store manager, I would not want a checker lecturing the customers about the environment. That would just be bad business. Even ALDI charges for bags, but the bags they sell are not a profit center. They just pass along the price to the customer. Their quarter rental charge for a basket is also a savings thing and has nothing to do with the environment unless you mean having people return their baskets to the store instead of them becoming hazards in the parking lot. Like bottle deposits of old, ALDI has found a way to save by having people be responsible for returning their own baskets. Even so, some people get very upset at being charged a basket deposit and some even leave the baskets in the parking lot rather than get their quarter back. That seems like a great business opportunity for a kid to collect baskets in the parking lot and come away with a pocket full of quarters.

 

[deezler]

Sorry beltman, your post makes no sense. You were less wasteful with *some* things only because you had to be, as innovation had yet to make things as cheap and disposable as they are today. As engineering and marketing modernized, your generation (yes, YOUR) created the era of mass consumption with zero consequences ideology that we still live under today.

If you truly did those things in the past out of concern for the environment and reducing waste, then clearly you would have no problem getting re-usable grocery bags and adapting to the times we live in today. Instead, you make excuses about not having convenience in the past?

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for the common sense, practical, and efficient (human-powered) ways of the past, but they do require sacrifice and commitment - values most people don't have a surplus of today.

 

[Beltman60]

Jinman

thanks for taking my post as it was meant to be
I thought some humor would do some good but I guess every post needs a negative response from someone

 

[Dr_Zinj]

(1) Pollution is waste product.
(2) It is NOT possible to produce anything without producing waste.
(3) It is NOT possible to reuse or recycle 100% of waste.

Both 2 & 3 are based on the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics.

Pollution by itself isn't a problem until it exceeds the capacity of the environment to absorb and breakdown. Said absorption and breakdown requiring energy, chemical, biological, or mechanical processes, space, and time to perform the operations.

The unfortunate thing is, people keep filling up those spaces with things they want the way that want them; which doesn't leave space for the pollution and the things that break it down. The only things we can do is get more space, which means moving to other planets and outer space, or limiting the number of people. We get into all kinds of hot ethical, moral, and legal arguments when it comes to the subject of limiting people.

 

[Beltman60]

Deezler

If you look at my first post this was sent to me from a very good friend who is 84 years old
I will let him know that his generation is responsible for the worlds turmoil of today

now I have to get back to writing a check to the state for methane gas pollution for $15 for my kids 4h steer
man I'm glad things are changing for the better

 

[Lou66]

Thought-provoking, stimulating and interesting post.. Lou

 

[mikehaugen]

Just as it was in every other forum on the planet where it appeared. This one's been circling around for years.

First I've read it

 

[brin]

First I've read it too ...thanks for posting it.

 

[houstonscott]

To the point directly, that bag people bring in is a night mare of contamination in a clean environment. Where was that bag before these people walked into the store and plopped it down on the counter where my food is being placed? Was it in their back seat where the dog licks, and sits. Those bags cause disease straight up and more than one of the e Coli outbreaks have been traced to these bags. HS