You see, grandma didn't mean to be earth-friendly; she did it all in the name of being cheap. When you visited her house and opened her kitchen cabinets, hundreds of plastic containers once filled with margarine, cottage cheese and sour cream spilled out. She used these to store all the leftovers that she would never, ever throw away. I don't think she owned one piece of Tupperware; she didn't need to. She owned a set of plates but that was just for company. She would reuse the same one all week. If we used a paper plate and it didn't get too dirty, she would reuse that too. I won't get into the stories of her actually taking things out of the trash that she deemed reusable. "I don't waste anything!" she would say. Sounds like an earth-loving mantra, right? Nah, it was all about penny pinching. The green stuff was just a bonus--one I don't think she was even aware of.
My father-in-law is another accidental environmentalist. If you asked him why he keeps the house sweltering hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter, his response wouldn't be about the planet. It would be about his bill. Why does he water down shampoo, reuse Ziplock bags and pick up things off the side of the road? It's definitely not to "reduce, reuse, recycle." But just like grandma, he's minimizing his carbon footprint.
If you're an AE, good for you. You may think you're just saving green but really, you're saving green. (I think I accidentally came up with a great bumper sticker!)
4 comments:
It looks like Leo is wearing the same shirt in both photos even though he is obviously alot older in the photo with Popsy! So, Leo must be an "Accidental Environmentalist" too -- can't throw away a good shirt!
DAD/FRANK SAYS-- Grandma Lib and Popsy grew up in an eras where things were not so disposable--we learned from our parents not to waste (you know the kids in China) and prior to "credit cards" where people had to have cash to buy things we were aware that money was scare to buy and replace ---- sooooo green was scare and if you had some, it was not so easy to let go it!!!!!
I get a Diet Coke refill every morning using the same cup that I've been using for over two years. I might not be in a league with Grandma and Frank, but I try.
Leo is wearing different shirts--he just has a similar look. I do think Leo may be an AE though. He will pick up just about anything off the ground and reuse it!
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