Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Groceries and Jute twine

Pic courtesy: WWW

Not sure if you've read 'Chariots of the Gods' by Eric Von Daniken

The author in this fascinating book suggests with examples that our ancestors had higher technological knowledge than today !

Let's not go to technology. Let's not go several hundred years back. Let's turn the clock back to the 70's when I was growing up.

Today, everyone talks about being green ! Looking back, I think we lived even greener.

One example - I used to buy groceries from local shops. The grocer would pack the items in paper and tie it up with JUTE twine. Both these items were 100% biodegradable. We used to take our own cloth bags from home to carry the groceries !!

2009 - I go to stores in the USA and they ask me if I want paper or plastic ! Several stores don't even offer plastic anymore. And I see a lot of people carrying their own bags...and I do too...( I forget sometimes though).


I hear that pretty soon, the stores will be charging for the paper bags. That will force everyone to carry their own bags from home.

So

Were we more advanced in our thoughts in the 70's?

4 comments:

DTD Time Traveler said...

In some ways perhaps we were more advanced (not me, I wasn't alive then). In general though, I think that the move to plastic bags was done because the bags were cheaper to make and possibly stronger. Back when stores started using them no one was thinking about what harm they would do to the environment. The problem with inventing new things is that you have to think about the consequences not just the rewards.

Jeevan said...

You’re so true. I think we’re more advanced than before which makes only our lives certain and we stopped thinking what all the cause it creates while we progressing.
Instead to see what is best, people are going behind grace things. We always use our own carry bags to go for shopping and most of them are jute bags.

Kavi said...

Brilliant. The twine is still very much in use in the southern districts of TV (where i saw them) !

So, i an a way, its all coming full circle !

:)

Narayanan Venkitu said...

DTD - Thank you, You are right. We didn't estimate the consequence. I doubt..we do even now. I read somewhere that the Brain is not tuned to react to slow..death !! We are afraid only of immediate consequences !!

Jeevan - Thank you, I am glad your family uses Jute bags !! Way to go.

Kavi - Thank you, yeah, things come around for sure. I am glad the Southern districts are thinking right !!