How Green Was My Father
There's a lot of talk these days about "carbon footprints", "greenhouse gasses", and all that other environmental stuff. I'm a firm believer in all of that, at least to the point where it's practical. However, there was someone in my life who took this very seriously: my father.
My father wasn't a tree hugger or a back-to-nature type guy. He had very practical reasons. He just hated to waste things.
First, there was electricity. My father fought for turning off lights with the zeal of a World War II-era air raid warden. His battle cry was, "Turn off the goddam lights when you're done in a room"! The electric bill was high enough for him, and there was no sense having the lights on in a room that no one was in.
Then, there was bottled water. Nothing upset him more than someone paying for water when he had perfectly good water that came out of the tap from his deep underground well. Not to mention the empty plastic bottles cluttering the place.
As far as gas conservation was concerned, making trips into town where verboten unless you could consolidate several trips together. Living out in the country meant a fifteen-minute, ten mile trip. By God, you don't need to go to town every day, was his battle cry. That was well before gas was nudging at $4.00 a gallon.
Finally, there was consumerism. My father didn't believe in buying ANYTHING unless you absolutely needed it. When you did, you went into the store specifically for that, chose between what was there, made your purchase and went home. You didn't need all that other "crap" that was being sold there.
I guess I'm not the only one that misses my father. Mother Nature probably does as well.
To contact me, e-mail me at rshustercommentNOSPAM@comcast.net. Please take out the NOSPAM when entering the e-mail address.
My father wasn't a tree hugger or a back-to-nature type guy. He had very practical reasons. He just hated to waste things.
First, there was electricity. My father fought for turning off lights with the zeal of a World War II-era air raid warden. His battle cry was, "Turn off the goddam lights when you're done in a room"! The electric bill was high enough for him, and there was no sense having the lights on in a room that no one was in.
Then, there was bottled water. Nothing upset him more than someone paying for water when he had perfectly good water that came out of the tap from his deep underground well. Not to mention the empty plastic bottles cluttering the place.
As far as gas conservation was concerned, making trips into town where verboten unless you could consolidate several trips together. Living out in the country meant a fifteen-minute, ten mile trip. By God, you don't need to go to town every day, was his battle cry. That was well before gas was nudging at $4.00 a gallon.
Finally, there was consumerism. My father didn't believe in buying ANYTHING unless you absolutely needed it. When you did, you went into the store specifically for that, chose between what was there, made your purchase and went home. You didn't need all that other "crap" that was being sold there.
I guess I'm not the only one that misses my father. Mother Nature probably does as well.
To contact me, e-mail me at rshustercommentNOSPAM@comcast.net. Please take out the NOSPAM when entering the e-mail address.