Markets & Justice

Markets & Justice
Freely operating markets yield a just outcome?

White Australia Has A Black History

White Australia Has A Black History

Saturday 31 October 2015

Purchasing is power ... Social power ... You are saying with your dollar what you want and value ... And there can be consequences coming from that decision


Buy Social: Delivering Social Impact Through Purchasing

Our purchasing decisions influence the way that supply chains develop.
Seeking the lowest price at all costs can result in supply chains with layers of hidden costs through damage to the environment and to the communities involved in that supply chain.
However, there are great examples where buyers have changed supply chains in order to deliver positive social outcomes.
One example of this has been in coffee.
When enough consumers chose to buy Fair Trade coffee, roasters altered their supply chain to accommodate demand and in so doing raised the wage levels and working conditions of coffee farmers and the communities that they live in.
As demand for Fair Trade coffee increased, production became more efficient and price declined. Fair Trade coffee now provides good coffee at competitive market prices while generating positive social outcomes.
Whether you buy for government, business or simply yourself as an individual consumer you have the power to change supply chains to generate social impact. 
What type of consumer are you?
In 2012, market research organisation Mobium undertook research into values based consumers and found that 10% of the consumer marketplace are ‘leaders’ who actively seek out products and services that deliver social benefit in production or through redistribution of profits.
The same research found that 40% of the market are ‘leaners’ who are likely to make values based purchasing decisions when they are provided with values information; and the remaining 50% of the market are ‘laggards’ who do not consider values in their purchasing decisions.
Positive impact through purchasing
Marketplaces that deliver positive social impact are beginning to emerge in Australia and across the world. While the Fair Trade movement has led the way, we are now beginning to see conscious consumers, businesses and governments choosing to disrupt the way that they traditionally buy to incorporate social benefit into their supply chain.
In 2014, Social Traders published research into social procurement in Australia’s corporate sector.  The findings identified that the mining industry had embraced and mandated social procurement as a mechanism for delivering indigenous economic development in the communities where they operated.
Of the 31 companies that were surveyed, it was found that 11 were undertaking social procurement in 2012, and 29 indicated an intention to be socially procuring by 2014.
Likewise, Governments in Australia have also begun to realise the power of social procurement.
The South Australian Government has incorporated clauses into road construction contracts specifying that 20% of the workforce should come from indigenous communities, people re-skilling from the automotive industry and the long-term unemployed.
The West Australian Government has spent over $20 million with social enterprises delivering employment for people with disabilities in the last three years. 
Both the NSW and Federal Government have set hard targets for contracts going to indigenous businesses.
Procurement spend across all levels of government in Australia alone equates to over $100 billion.  Consumer and corporate spending far outstrips Government procurement of goods and services - consumer spending alone is more than five times greater than government spending.
Put together this amounts to almost one trillion dollars of buying power that has the opportunity to deliver social benefit as well as providing required goods and services.
Purchasing to generate positive social impact through consumer spending together with public and private sector procurement, possibly represents the greatest untapped mechanism for social change in this country.
USA leads Australia
In the US the commitment to buying social has been more significant than in Australia.  Government has been the champion of social procurement, utilising legislation to mandate purchasing from minority owned business - those businesses majority owned by communities under-represented in company ownership.  This policy, introduced in 1977 now generates over $100 billion per annum in government procurement being spent with minority suppliers in the USA.
Legislation has also been enacted requiring all US Federal Departments to determine if their contract needs can be met by a social enterprise (employing people with a disability) at a competitive price, before going out to open tender.
This has resulted in social enterprises securing $2 billion per annum from government contracts, creating jobs for 50,000 people with disabilities.
The US Government is showing true leadership through its procurement policies by setting procurement targets designed to reduce inequality.  This leadership has spilled over to the private sector, where many companies are introducing social procurement policies and targets into their organisations.
We need more public and private sector leadership to Buy Social
Just as improving environmental standards over the decades has been driven by Government leadership, and then adopted by businesses, we are calling for similar commitments to social impact via procurement policies and processes in Australia.
According to the Finding Australia’s Social Enterprise Sector (FASES) research, there are an estimated 20,000 social enterprises operating in Australia.
Social Traders estimates that approximately 2,000 of these social enterprises are committed to the creation of employment for disadvantaged groups and collectively create jobs for 35,000 Australians who were previously long-term unemployed or are at risk of unemployment.
Proactive government and corporate purchasing strategies designed to increase procurement from social enterprise and similar socially focused organisations would increase turnover and allow these enterprises to contribute greater social benefit to Australia, while of course still providing the required goods and services to the purchaser.
If over time government and business committed $10 billion (1-2% of their procurement budget) per annum in spending on social enterprise, this would create up to 150,000 social enterprise jobs, with 110,000 going to the long term unemployed and those at risk of unemployment. Even accounting for displacement of some existing workers we anticipate that over 50,000 more people could become economically active, simply by changing who we buy from.
With 10% of Australians already buying from social enterprises and other organisations that generate positive social benefit, a shift towards socially conscience purchasing is already underway. The time is now ripe to increase the speed of this shift and magnify its potential.
This acceleration can be achieved through Governments embracing the concept and raising the awareness of buying socially across the broader community.
Mark Daniels is Head of Market and Sector Development at Social Traders.
 
Read more Buy Social content at: www.socialtraders.com.au/buysocial

Tuesday 27 October 2015

African Christianity - and it has a presence at St Paul's at Bakery Hill, #Ballarat

Australia is a large continent with a small population.  Congregations of the major historical denominations in Australia are diminishing and ageing.  We forget what happens elsewhere.  

At St Paul's at Bakery Hill in Ballarat, our parish priest is Nigerian and we love him.  He has married this year, and, while we have met and love Faith, we are waiting for her, as she wends her way through Australia's immigration procedures, to come and settle. The people of Ballarat, as they meet Constantine Osuchukwu and get to know him, think well of him.  We are sure this will be the case when Faith comes to her new home. Please pray for a speedy resolution to the immigration matters so that Faith can settle among us.

At St Paul's, we also have African members of the congregation.  At the moment, Botswana, Kenya, South Sudan and South Africa are represented.

As we engage in conversation, and as we read in international Anglican news, we learn how very different are matters Anglican in Africa.  For a long time, the power of the Anglican Communion has lain with its Anglo origins and the former British Empire, now the Commonwealth of Nations.  Things have changed as the Anglo countries find their congregations diminishing and the former colonies of Empire in Africa have found their congregations growing.  This is a massive shift for the Anglican Communion to consider.  How long will it be until there is an African Archbishop of Canterbury?
~~~~~~ 
Mission Theologian in the Anglican Communion lecture explores African Christianity

Posted on: October 26, 2015 12:06 PM
The Canon Professor Joseph Galgalowith Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby at Lambeth Palace
Photo Credit: Church Mission Society
[ACNS] Christianity in Africa has benefited from sustained exponential growth, with numbers growing from about 10 million in 1900 to just over half a billion in 2015; but the diversity of the different forms of Christian practices and teachings on the continent means that it may be more accurate to see it as Christianities rather than Christianity – that was the message from Canon Professor Joseph Galgalo as he delivered the inaugural Mission Theology Seminar at Lambeth Palace last week.
The lecture by Prof Galgalo, vice-chancellor of St Paul’s University in Limuru, Kenya, was the first in a new series of seminars organised by the Mission Theology in the Anglican Communion project.
“There is no denying that African Christianity is increasingly vibrant and as the populations of the countries keep growing, the churches proportionately take their fair share of this growth,” Prof Galgalo said. “The growth is not limited to any particular denomination and increase in numbers often results into variety of Churches. To cite the example of Kenya, during the 2009 national census, 31,877,734 (82.98 per cent) out of the national population of 38,412,088 identified themselves as Christian (of Catholic, Protestant or other denominations). This translates to about nine points percentage increase compared to the result of the 1999 census.
To read more, please go here

Monday 26 October 2015

Remembering Francis and all of creation - The Canticle of the Sun and Laudato si' - Brother Sun and Sister Moon - Part 2

is one of the most revered persons
in the history of Christianity.

The life of Francis has much to teach us all.
He has been made highly relevant for two reasons:
  • The recent election of a new pope who took the name of Francis
  • Pope Francis's recent encyclical which opens with the first words of the beautiful Canticle of the Sun ... in Latin ... Laudato si'.
  •  

Remembering Francis and all of creation - The Canticle of the Sun and Laudato si' - Brother Sun and Sister Moon - Part 1


From Church of the Working Class
For Joanna...
CANTICLE OF THE SUN - Saint Francis of Assisi, O.F.M. (1224)
Most high, all powerful, all good Lord!All...
Posted by Church of the Working Class on Saturday, 24 October 2015
 ~~~~~~~

Friday 23 October 2015

Love, hope and helping - three qualities that humans need not only to give but to receive

The quote above is marvellous.
It uses the word 'duty'.
True.
Love and hope and helping are a duty -
not only to our near and dear
but to all humanity.

However, the word 'ministry' could be an improvement.
We often think of ministers as the people who stand up in church
and minister and preach.
But this is not right thinking.
Please see 1 Corinthians in the
New Testament of Jesus.
The way our brother Paul encompasses just about everything
is well worth thinking about.
However it is that mention of helps or helping that I admire.
Each of us at some time or another needs a hand - a helping hand.
And each of us -  at some time or another -
has experience of giving a helping hand.
What a service to humanity is the helping hand -
and it is the practical outworking of love and of hope.

Tuesday 20 October 2015

Dale Hess calendar week beginning 15-10-19

Wednesday 21 October 7:30 pm - 9pm: Tim Colebatch: Tax Changes or Tax Reform?  Tim Colebatch is a writer, freelance journalist, and former economics editor of the Age. In the first half of his long career, before focusing on economics, he covered many roles, including environment writer, investigative reporter, editorial writer, political and economic columnist, and Washington correspondent. 

Venue: The Study Centre Yarra Theological Union, Box Hill, Best entry via 34 Bedford Street. Entry free. Donations welcome. Refreshments afterwards. Info: 03 9890 1077 | 0409 897 971


Thursday 22 October, 7.30 pm – 9.30 pm: Syria – What is Happening? Speaker: Shahram Akbarzadeh,who is a Research Professor of Middle East and Central Asian Politics. Dr Akbarzadeh works at Deakin University. He has an active research interest in the politics of Central Asia, Islam, Muslims in Australia and the Middle East. We will give an update on the various ways Brigidine Asylum Seeker Project is helping asylum seekers and also explore the needs and what further assistance is needed. Venue: St Joseph’s Hall (beside the bluestone church), 274 Rouse Street , Port Melbourne. Contact:   03 9696 2107.

Monday 26 October, 7 pm – 9.30 pm: Peace in Australia: The untold story: From Military Security to Human Security: Beyond the Cold War & War on Terror. Launch of Peace Museum. The Road Taken: from Vietnam to Afghanistan and Iraq Emeritus Professor with Joseph Camilleri OAM, La Trobe University; Followed by questions and comments The Road We Must Travel:  Prof Camilleri in conversation with Prof Jacqui True, Monash University; Prof Robyn Eckersley, University of Melbourne; A/Prof Marianne Hanson, University of Queensland. Venue: Unitarian Peace Memorial Church 110 Grey Street, East Melbourne. Presented by Pax Christi Victoria for the Anzac Centenary Peace Coalition. Further information: camrita44@gmail.com

Wednesday 28 October, 10 am – 11.30 am: The Australian Climate Security Panel. Australia and its neighbours are on the frontline of climate change. Soaring temperatures, rising sea levels and increases in extreme weather events will play a role in raising the risk of conflict, increasing the displacement of people and worsening the extent of destruction caused by extreme weather events in our region Hosted by UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy, the panel will discuss climate change, its security implications and the steps being taken by the US and UK militaries to be prepared. Speakers: Rear Admiral David Titley, USN (Ret.), who initiated and led the US Navy’s Task Force on Climate Change whilst serving in the Pentagon; Rear Admiral Neil Morisetti, RN (Ret.), who acted as the UK Government’s Climate and Energy Security Envoy;Admiral Chris Barrie (Ret.), Australia's former Chief of Defence; Professor Will Steffen, world leading climate change expert and Climate Councillor. Where: UNSW Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Tickets are limited, click here for more information and to reserve your seat in the auditorium.

Wednesday 4 November, 6 pm to 8:30 pm: Impossible Climate: Safe Climate Restoration Under the Microscope. Advocacy for the restoration of a safe climate calls for solutions that the world does not currently possess.. The central question remains ‘is safe climate restoration possible and, if not, what level of action is now morally defensible and yet practically achievable?’ Join Breakthrough for this special forum to examine and critique the recently published discussion paper Striking Targets, with author Philip Sutton. 
FORUM PANELLISTS: Ben Courtice, Friends of the Earth Climate Campaigner; Andrea Bunting, Climate Activist, Researcher & Writer; David Spratt, Climate Policy Analyst; Mark Wakeham, CEO Environment Victoria;Adrian Whitehead, Save The Planet Campaign Manager. Venue: University of Melbourne, Ground Floor, 700 Swanston Street, Carlton, VIC 3053. Free event, donations welcome. Register:https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/im-possible-climate-tickets-19009790796
Friday 6 November – Saturday 7 November, 9.30 am – 5.30 pm: Turn Conflicts into Opportunities. Our relationships are often the most important thing in our life. But when was the last time you took the time to explore how YOU can build better relationships with yourself and others? The "Turn Conflicts to Opportunities" training is a GREAT opportunity to share in a safe and supportive space, and really dive deep into powerful, transformative tools, so that you can integrate them into your life and use them daily. Facilitator: Efrat Wolfson. At Leisure Centre, Eastwood Street, Ballarat VIC. Costs? $355 / $325 early bird special (till 5/10). For more info: For more details and testimonials - click on this link 
Monday 9 November – Tuesday 10 November, 9 am – 5 pm: Community Development: Introductory Course. Become more confident in designing & facilitating community development programs & activities. Learn practical ways of empowering communities; understand the basic concepts of Community Development; examine power and change processes; discuss community development practices; hold conversations with experienced Community Development workers; access to further learning resources; come to understand the field; use the modes of head (intellect), heart (feelings), hands (practical work with people) and feet (groundedness). Venue: 2 Minona Street, Hawthorn.

Tuesday 10 November, 6.30 pm – 8 pm: When Brunswick and Coburg voted “NO” to war. Brunswick and Coburg’s dramatic history and role in the WW1 referendums on conscription will be discussed at  a public meeting on 10 November. The people of Brunswick and Coburg voted “No” to conscription. Local leaders included John Curtin, Frank Anstey and Bella Guerin.  Anti-conscription campaigners were imprisoned in Coburg’s Pentridge Gaol both in WW1 and during the Vietnam War - including speaker Michael Hamel-Green. The inaugural meeting of the Brunswick-Coburg 1916-17 Anti-Conscription Commemoration Committee (BCCCC) -  with suggested future activities presented for discussion. All welcome.  WHERE: St Ambrose Community Centre, 287 Sydney Rd Brunswick (the centre for anti-conscription campaigners in 1916-17!). INFO: Nancy, 0490 182 041

Wednesday 11 November – Thursday 12 November, 9 am – 5 pm: Community Development: Intermediate Course. Become more confident in designing & facilitating community development programs & activities. Learn practical ways of empowering communities; understand the basic concepts of Community Development; examine power and change processes; discuss community development practices; hold conversations with experienced Community Development workers; access to further learning resources; come to understand the field; use the modes of head (intellect), heart (feelings), hands (practical work with people) and feet (groundedness). Venue: 2 Minona Street, Hawthorn.

Wednesday 11 November, 6 pm: Book launch: World War One: A History in 100 Stories by Prof Bruce Scates, Rebecca Wheatley, Laura James. The event will also feature a lecture ‘Remembering and Forgetting War’ by Jay Winter. Venue: Museum Theatre, Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson Street, Carlton, Victoria, 3053. Free event, but bookings essential:  ncas.enquiries@monash.edu. Refreshments provided.

Saturday 14 November – Sunday 15 November, 9.30 am – 5.30 pm: Turn Conflicts into Opportunities.Our relationships are often the most important thing in our life. But when was the last time you took the time to explore how YOU can build better relationships with yourself and others? The "Turn Conflicts to Opportunities" training is a GREAT opportunity to share in a safe and supportive space, and really dive deep into powerful, transformative tools, so that you can integrate them into your life and use them daily. Facilitator: Efrat Wolfson.At St Joseph’s Flexible Learning Centre, 385 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne. Costs? $355 / $325 early bird special (till 5/10). For more info:  For more details and testimonials - click on this link 

Saturday 14 November – Thursday 19 November: The Nonviolent Interfaith Leadership Program.Participants of the program will come together for a 5-day retreat in Melbourne at the beautiful Edmund Rice Retreat and Spirituality Centre ‘Amberley’ situated on a bend of the Yarra River in Lower Plenty. In an inspiring interfaith environment, participants will form a community of practice and together study the art of nonviolent leadership in ways that will deepen their leadership potential and expand their capacity to make vital contributions to their community and the world. A team of highly skilled, richly experienced and deeply spiritual facilitators will guide participants through a 5-day retreat. For details see:http://www.nonviolentinterfaithleadership.org/announcement-2015-program/

Friday 27 November, 5.30 pm: Climate Rally. This November, the climate talks will be held in Paris, home of the baguette, the beret and – in a foreboding symbol for heads of state – the guillotine. Of course, throughout history Paris has also been home to mass demonstrations that toppled unpopular regimes, a fact that shouldn’t be lost on leaders anxious about the outcome. As delegates arrive in Paris, Melbourne will kick off a weekend of global climate action with a People’s Climate March. Meet at the State Library, Swanston Street. Click here for more information.

Thursday 3 December and Friday 4 December, Registration at 8.45 am, program 9.30 am to 5.30 pm: Ethical Enterprise Conference 2015. The Ethical Enterprise Conference is a positive educational and networking event for ethical and social enterprises, to discuss the rewards, challenges, issues and opportunities facing ethical and social enterprises, large and small. The conference will bring together a community of professionals, business owners, managers, new social entrepreneurs, students and ethical business leaders with like-minded values. Speakers include Stephanie Woollard, Ross Honeywill, and many more. VenueThe Carlton Connect Initiative University of Melbourne, LAB-14, 700 Swanston Street, Carlton, 3053. Click here for more information

The Wisdom of Always



The Wisdom of Always..
Posted by Patricia Olive Corowa on Monday, 19 October 2015

Sunday 18 October 2015

To-day is Anti-Slavery Day : Australia's first ever free anti-slavery training course online from Uni of NSW starts on Oct 22


To find out more about Anti-Slavery Australia
please go here

To-day, 18 October, is Anti-Slavery Day

Anti-Slavery Day,created in 2010 by an Act of Parliament in Britain, aims to raise awareness of modern-day slaver and to inspire people to do what they can to eliminate it. The bill defines modern-day slavery as child trafficking, forced labour, domestic servitude and trafficking for sexual exploitation.

This day is championed by Anti-Slavery International which, founded in 1839, is the world's oldest international human rights organisation and the only charity in the United Kingdom to work exclusively against slavery.  

18 October: Anti-Slavery Day

Anti-Slavery Day, created in 2010 by an Act of Parliament in Britain, aims to raise awareness of modern-day slavery and to inspire people to do what they can to eliminate it. The bill defines modern-day slavery as child trafficking, forced labour, domestic servitude and trafficking for sexual exploitation.



Hear Anti-Slavery Australia Director Jennifer Burn talk about forced marriage in this 1800RESPECT webinar next Thursday 22 October
Register here: http://www2.redbackconferencing.com.au/1800Respect22Oct2015 
Posted by Anti-Slavery Project on Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Saturday 17 October 2015

An apostasy abroad in the world : double-mindedness and the despising of the poor

When Christians Despise the Poor | Liz Boltz Ranfeld

by Steve
horrible-offensive-terrible-meme
... it’s too hard for me to start this blog post with the sentence that I feel should start this blog, which is this: I cried tonight when I saw this image pop up in my Facebook feed: “Don’t forget to pay your taxes this year so the government can give it to people who don’t work as hard as you.”
The vitriol I see spewed at the poor finally got to me tonight, and here I am, sitting in my living room with tears on my cheeks because I just don’t know how to keep excusing people for these kinds of statements. It’s in my nature to see the good in people, even when they have views that conflict with mine, but how much of this am I supposed to take?I see angry, hateful images that target the poor on a daily basis. Even though I try to hide people from my Facebook feed who post offensive stuff frequently, it still pops up in unexpected places. And it’s not just Facebook. I hear stuff like this in the waiting room at the dentist, in the lobby of a hotel where I’m spending the night before a family wedding, in my classroom coming from my students, walking through the streets of my city or another, in editorials in my local newspaper, on blogs, in church services. I can hide problematic people on Facebook, but I can’t hide ideas like this from showing up in the real world.
St Paul says be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2), but it is all too easy to be conformed to this world. because we are bombarded by the world's values everywhere we go, as Liz Boltz Ranfeld shows in her blog post. In web sites like Facebook we find the world's values distilled into neat little epigrams, but we have them drummed into us all the time, by advertisers, politicians, celebrities and all the rest. And it's hard to resist. As another neat little epigram puts it, "go with the flow".
But St Paul reminds us that as Christians we are called to go against the flow, to be countercultural, to march to a different drummer.
Since the Reagan/Thatcher years especially, this despising of the poor has been particularly strong. But when these values appear among Christians it is really a mark of apostasy, or at the very least what Russian theologians calleddvoeverie -- double-mindedness. To paraphrase Elijah: How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if the Market, then follow him (I Kings 18:21).
Baal was the god of prosperity, of commercial success. And some Christians have contextualised their theology in a form of syncretism, to justify worshiping God and Mammon. It is called Prosperity Theology. But even if we don't try to justify it in that manner, we are still influenced by it at every turn. One can't escape it. Nowadays, one can say that the dominant religion of Western civilization is the Market.
Ayn Rand's ideology of "Objectivism" has been around for a long time, and though it has its vociferous admirers, not everyone is prepared to acknowledge it openly. But since the Reagan/Thatcher years it has been widely accepted in diluted form. Its values are regarded by its devotees as axioms, needing no justification, brooking no contradiction.
But Elijah says "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him."
And the people answered him not a word.


Steve | 17 October 2015 at 8:26 am | Tags: Christian values, Objectivism, poverty,syncretism, the poor, theology | Categories: economics, idolatry, theology,Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p3gtp-2rM

Celebrating Fair Food Week at the Jiggety-Jig Farmers Market in #Ballarat

The Editor trotted off jiggety-jig to market, this morning. 
No, she didn't buy the fat pig of the nursery rhyme. 

Being vegetarian, she steered clear of the meat that was available
and focussed on bread and veges. 

 The Jiggety-Jig farmers market was on this morning. 
 Local producers. 

 It costs a little more to purchase the food available at good farmers' markets 
but it is worthwhile to spend a just a little extra 
to purchase local food of good quality 
which has not travelled far from the farm; 
where you can be absolutely guaranteed that free range eggs 
are actually free range.

It is also wise to remember that
if we don't support our local producers and makers
then, one day in the not too far away,
we will lose them.
If we lose them and make ourselves slaves
to imports and cheap foreign government subsidised food,
with these people will go the skills that
ensure that we can feed ourselves.
So purchasing from the locals
is like making a down-payment on
a sort of food insurance policy.

Below is an album of my purchases. 
Some good eating is contained therein 

A change must occur deep in our souls ...


"It is clear that there will be little development of life here in the future if we do not protect and foster the living...
Posted by Spiritual Ecology on Friday, 16 October 2015

Friday 16 October 2015

Humanity and hospitality : would you do this?



QUICK READ: Would you open your home to a refugee? As we (like most houses around where I live) have plenty of room...
Posted by ABC Open on Thursday, 15 October 2015

Fair Food Week starts to-day. Jiggety-Jig Farmers Market to-morrow at #Ballarat Showgrounds



Fair Food Week begins to-day 
Show your support for local Fair Foodies
Attend the Jiggety-Jig Farmers Market
at the #Ballarat Showgrounds to-morrow. 

Tuesday 13 October 2015

Sustainability Victoria coming to #Ballarat with 'Community Conversation on Climate Change' - y'all are invited


You are invited by Sustainability Victoria, to‘Community Conversation on Climate Change’.- for community groups,...
Posted by Buninyong Sustainability - at Royal Park on Monday, 12 October 2015

Climate change community conversation - Invitation and Agenda - 28 October 2015 #Ballarat


"We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."

Moira Jean Sylvia Judd
Yesterday after shopping in our local supermarket, I was in the queue at the Check Out, and heard when the young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags are not good for the environment.
The woman apologised to the young girl & then sighed, "We didn't have this 'green thing' back in my earlier days."
The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. You folk didn't do enough to save our environment for future generations."
The older lady said "Ahh yes you're right -- our generation didn't have the "green thing" in its day." She sighed then continued:
Back then, we returned milk bottles, lemonade bottles & beer bottles to the shops. The shops then sent them back to the plant to be washed, sterilized & refilled, so those same bottles were used over & over, thus REALLY were recycled. But we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day.
Grocery stores put our groceries into brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the books provided for our use by the school) were not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalise our books on their brown paper bag/covers. But, too bad we didn't do the "green thing" back then.
I remember how we walked up stairs because we didn't have an escalator in every store or office building; walked to the grocery store & didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go 200 yards.
. . . But she was right. We didn't have the "green thing" in our day.
Back then we washed the baby's nappies because we didn't have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. Wind & solar power really did dry our clothes back in our days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. . . . But that young lady is right; we didn't have the "green thing" back in our day. 
Back then we had one radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And if anyone did own a TV, it had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of a football pitch. When cooking we blended & stirred by hand coz we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send by post, we used layers of old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity., , , , But she's right; we didn't have the "green thing" back then.
We drank from a tap or fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, & we replaced the razor blade in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the "green thing" back then. Back then, people took the bus & kids rode bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mothers into a 24-hour taxi service in the family's expensive car or van, which cost what a whole house did before the "green thing".. 
Oh and we had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest leisure park.
. . . . But it so sad this current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the "green thing" back then? . . . I think you should forward this on to another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from some smart ass young person. .. ...
We don't like being old in the first place, so it doesn't take much to piss us off... Especially from a tattooed, multiple pierced smart ass who can't make change without the cash register telling them how much. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯