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Is it me or were we more enviromentally friendly in the 80's (and before)

60 replies

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 06/06/2019 14:46

( Delibrately put in chat rather than AIBU) sort of inspired by the stop flying thread but other threads in resent weeks i've kindcof been thinking this the last while.

When i was growing up we had milk in glass bottles that we had to wash and return to be reused delivered by local milkman in an electric cart. Yes we can now get milk and more but very very few people do use this service mostly its the dreaded plastic bottle from the supermarket.

We certuanly had the pop man (ok i think that was fairly rare in the 80's but maybe not in the 70's) who'd gove ypu a percentage back for returning the glass bottle rather than the big plastic bottles from the supermarket

Talking of supermarkets, i don't really remember plastic bags we used to put every thing back in our trolley and pack it in cardboard boxes at the packing self in finefare anyway. Me and my brother always used to race to the box pile to find the suitable box. See the lidl/aldi style is nothing new is it. That was kust going to the supermarket people have just forgotten because we got used to being given handfulls of plastic bags at the checkout.

I remember my respite career taking fabric shopping bags with her that were kept by the front door. So did my nan so that might have been old fashioned then but i'm sure they weren't the only ones to do it.

Meat was more expensive and you generally shopped at the local butchers.

Holidays at the old beach holday resorts were just as accptable as a holiday, i spent most of my childhood blackpool, scarborough, and mainly cornwall, so did tje majority of my friends. Going abroad was posh and a treat. Flying was pretty expensive.

I remember the excitement that ketchup/mayo/salad cream came in squeezy plastic bottles rather than glass ones that you had to hit to get the source out. But how much is that comtrubuting ti the plastic crisis.

When did paper straws go out of fashion i remember them loads when i was a kid. But just talkinf to people about mcdonalds introducing them some people were confused how they'd even work. That said we did use trillions of those tiny thin blue ones that came with the school milk (how many of those are floating around our oceans now) but the school milk came in tiny little glass bottles

I'm not trying to preach i'm far far far from perfect. Just its occured to me all these oh we need more liquids in glass bottles i'm really not tuat old and i remember them pretty much all being. The shop local again we were more reliant ob our local shops and less reliant on plastic packaging where/when did it change so much.

I also remember the go green movement of the late 80's i had a big book of being green fir kids or something in 89 ish. It just strikes me that we were actually living what would be considered quite 'eco' these days back in the 80's

OP posts:
FoxSquadKitten · 06/06/2019 14:50

You're absolutely right. I was saying this exact same thing to my DS yesterday. Also fruit/veg was put in brown paper bags not plastic punnets wrapped in plastic.
We've done so much damage these past 30 years.

jacksonmaine · 06/06/2019 14:52

Yes I agree. I looked at getting my organic milk delivered in glass bottles, it would cost me 3 times as much as getting it from a supermarket - why? I don't believe it was super expensive back in the 70s.

starfishmummy · 06/06/2019 14:52

Yes we were - but it was just "normal"

BloomedAgain · 06/06/2019 14:56

Yes. And the taste of paper straws take me straight back to my childhood.

jacksonmaine · 06/06/2019 14:56

I think supermarket shopping has caused the crisis. We used to shop little and often on the high street. My mum would use a shopper on wheels and I do not remember any waste whatsoever.

bibbitybobbityyhat · 06/06/2019 15:01

Yanbu. I'm an older Mumsnetter and remember perfectly well how we all survived and managed without everything wrapped in plastic.

We had strawberries in June and July only and they came in a green cardboard punnet.

My grandma used to wash plastic food bags and hang them out on the line.

When my dd was born you could buy most produce loose at Sainsburys (eg. cherry tomatoes, mushrooms) they were not packaged up in plastic boxes. This was only 18 years ago! I can't believe we've taken such massive backward steps environmentally just in her lifetime.

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 06/06/2019 15:06

but it was just "normal"

Yes exactly, all the we need to change our lifestyle and do it this way, waa just the totally normal way of doing things.

Why did it all change, because no one doubts the damage we've done, (well aside from the president of the united states, but ...)

There was increased awareness of enviromental issues in the late 80's so what happened? It wasn't like we weren't aware. We were.

OP posts:
bibbitybobbityyhat · 06/06/2019 15:08

Big business. Global capitalisation. Getting everybody to consume more and want more is key. We've been sold the lie that greed is good, basically.

MoobaaMoobaa · 06/06/2019 15:11

I totally agree, and have said the same to my dc. also there was a lot done at school in the late 80s about the greenhouse effect and stop using aerosols, big fridges ect...

But in the past decades everything has gone the other way, as consumers we've had less and lless say in what our products come in. Then there has been a rise in disposable products that although I might not buy, unfortunately appeal to many others.

It makes me cross that although as individuals we can make a difference it's the big companies that the government should be applying pressure on. Paper straws is like a token gesture.

Building more runways just seems insane.

CabbagesRoses · 06/06/2019 15:17

Yes I agree, it's been gradual but it is really only the last 30 years where consumerism and single use plastic has hit an all time high, in the 80s every bathroom had a bar of soap rather than handwash, (even public toilets I recall). And yes I remember the cardboard boxes in supermarkets. Just much less waste generally really. It's all got crazy out of control very quickly.

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 06/06/2019 15:23

in the 80s every bathroom had a bar of soap rather than handwash, (even public toilets I recall)

Ahh an actual bar of soap!!! How could i forget!! Hand wash was posh, you might have got it for chrustmas with your body lotion. And yes public toilets had white soap little bars for each sink

Its funny isnt it these things that were seen as "posh" plastics disposable things are the cause of the problem.

OP posts:
CabbagesRoses · 06/06/2019 15:33

"Big business. Global capitalisation. Getting everybody to consume more and want more is key. We've been sold the lie that greed is good, basically." - exactly.
Recently social media esp instagram are awful for this, everyone wanting the latest thing, entire kitchens or bathrooms ripped out after a mere few years because they are no longer 'insta worthy'. But how do you get people to change their mindsets now? It seems impossible.

CabbagesRoses · 06/06/2019 15:36

Also, going back to the 80s, a large percentage of the population (certainly those 40 and above) had just lived through ww2, rationing etc was still fresh in people's minds, people are forgetting now.

FoxSquadKitten · 06/06/2019 15:43

My mum would use a shopper on wheels

Yes my DM had one of these and also a string bag that was used again and again.

Seeline · 06/06/2019 15:49

I'm not sure we were that much more aware of the environment then. The greenhouse effect was just coming into public awareness. I remember it from my degree in the late 80s. But CFCs were mainly blamed for that.

There just wasn't that much plastic around. And we didn't treat everything as disposable. Things were meant to last. Food was definitely more seasonal though, and tasted better for it.

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 06/06/2019 15:52

I'm not sure we were that much more aware of the environment then
That wasnt what i was saying - just our nornal lifestyle was naturally more eco than it is now

OP posts:
HollowTalk · 06/06/2019 15:56

I was thinking the same thing about drinks. When I was young you didn't walk around with a drink and bottles of coke etc were in glass bottles or tin cans. I know it's better for us to drink water but the number of plastic bottles sold every day is really frightening.

I was trying to remember how much we actually drank. I don't drink tea or coffee and don't think I would have had a drink apart from meal times. I know I didn't eat breakfast in my 20s and wonder whether I didn't have a drink of water until lunch time.

Isthebigwomanhere · 06/06/2019 16:05

I remember going the local market and everything was in brown paper bags and weighed.
Maybe pop for a coffee or tea while out and sit in to drink it.
Take out drink was not an option.
Go buy some cheese and it was off a cheese wheel and wrapped.
The pop man delivered fizzy drinks on a Friday and we got money back on the empties.
All fruit and veg was seasonal
Toiletries were minimal
We never had kitchen roll or lots of cling film
Never went on a plane
Tv was off most of the day as nothing was on
And we wore stuff more than once

BirthdayCakes · 06/06/2019 16:06

Big business. Global capitalisation. Getting everybody to consume more and want more is key. We've been sold the lie that greed is good, basically

Exactly

MoobaaMoobaa · 06/06/2019 16:07

I'm not sure we were that much more aware of the environment then

see I think we were, certainly for me all through primary school it was talked about and the rubbish swirling in part of the ocean was known about I remember us all been shocked. My parents were very environmentally aware too, all to do with oil and plastics drived from it. They were not hippies or anything.
But glad you grow up with more consumerism pushed on you and imedate life problems getting in the way, and more people/companies and around you don't seem to care things just become normal.

MoobaaMoobaa · 06/06/2019 16:12

it's like when all of a sudden it was found that the tiny tiny plastic beads put in some stuff was actually really bad. I was like really? no shit Sherlock. Who the fuck thought it was a good idea? and why was it allowed to happen? it's pretty obvious what the out come was going to be.

Soola · 06/06/2019 16:13

Things were repaired not replaced. Toasters and kettles could have the element repaired or replaced. Now we throw them away and buy a new one not just when they break but when we change our colour scheme.

Couples would receive a kettle or a toaster as wedding gift and still be using them thirty years later.

Most stuff today isn’t built to last which contributes to vast waste.

LarryGreysonsDoor · 06/06/2019 16:15

I think the late 80s onwards have a lot to answer for as far as waste goes. Before that there was far less single use plastic. Very few ready meals or products in those type of trays.

There was a picture of the high street back in the 60s posted on a local Facebook page a while ago and someone commented how there was no litter and blaming the youth of today for dropping litter. While I agree that dropping litter is a shocking thing that I could no more do than punch a kitten I did point out that there was much less litter to be dropped then.

Drinks were rarely drunk in the street and if they were it was a glass bottle with a deposit. No one ate in the street. It was rare to buy crisps. At worst it was chip wrappers which of course were old newspaper.

I think shower gel has been one of the greatest marketing schemes of the last 30 years. Everyone was fine with soap but as people started to get showers fitted the soap companies realised they could market something new to you. They told you soap was old and rubbish and shower gel was all new and exciting for your new shower.

Xeroxarama · 06/06/2019 16:20

Soap on a rope came first before shower gel! Bring it back!

Soola · 06/06/2019 16:22

Cheap clothing contributes to waste.

I despair at how many on here who say they cannot sew even basic things. They don’t seem to reach basic sewing skills at school anymore.

Dressmaking is now a luxury hobby yet used to be what poorer people did in order to have nice clothes.

Well made clothes last for years but cheaply made ones are often discarded yearly.