“Going Green” is not a new concept

This is a stretch from actual greenwashing but is close enough that we thought it to be a good topic to bring up.  This whole idea of “going green” is not a new concept.  Many of us see this as a recent trend… a movement even.  However our elders have “gone green” quite a bit.  Perhaps not with the whole industrial revolution period, but in other ways.  Here’s what we mean:

• Drying clothes on a line instead of in the clothes dryer.  (This was an economic choice more than an environmental one, but it’s the result that matters)
• Paper towels are a new thing.  Our parents and grandparents used cloth towels over and over.
• They bought second hand.  Not everyone did, but it was a much more common way to save a few bucks.  With the advent of Craigslist and Freecycle, this should be a bigger tool of the eco-conscious.
• Remember Victory Gardens?  We don’t either, but learned about them in school.  Growing your own food is one of the biggest steps a consumer can take to green their diet and our forefathers relied much more on their own food.
• Canning use to be a bigger thing than it is today.  Along with growing your own food, storing it long term is a very eco-conscious step that was taken by our elders.
• Making your own clothes/mending clothes was a no-brainer yesterday.  Today we tend to think “time for a new one”.
• Our grandparents cleaned with things like Vinegar, not Magic Erasers (who knows what they put in that thing to make it “magic”.
• Reuse and repurpose – again, a standard practice in the old days.  Now our culture tends to look at new things as the only option.  Heck, we even have things for which there is no practical need just because someone on TV said we needed it. (Read: plastic christmas tree garland holders)
• And finally: turning the thermostat down.  Heat = money my grandfather might have said.  We are a little spoiled now with our heaters, air conditioners, air filters and ionizers.    Instead of turning the heat up, go put on a sweater you just mended and eat some canned peaches.

Source: The Huffington Post