S/o Saving the World--Things Your Grandparents Did

[Carol in Cal.]

One thing that most of this requires is some significant time at home.  Ironically, a lot of it doesn't need continuous attention, but it's a type of intermittent but fairly frequent attention that means you have to BE THERE.  That's not always easy or possible.  

[fairfarmhand]

4 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

One thing that most of this requires is some significant time at home.  Ironically, a lot of it doesn't need continuous attention, but it's a type of intermittent but fairly frequent attention that means you have to BE THERE.  That's not always easy or possible.  

Yep. I think what's so hard for low income people is that there are things that can be done to save money but they all take time. Cooking from scratch, line drying, hand washing underclothes,  cloth diapering, etc. just require time, which is something that the single mom or the 2 income family have little of. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by fairfarmhand

[Jean in Newcastle]

Before the photocopier and even before the mimeograph, we had a pan of gelatin (hectograph) that was used to copy things. New technology is so much better!!!

 

eta:  and of course there was always the carbon paper behind whatever you were typing on the (non electric) typewriter. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by Jean in Newcastle

[sassenach]

In my family we joke that my grandfather invented select-a-size paper towels. By the time I came along, they would splurge on paper towels but my grandfather would always cut the roll in half to make them last longer.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think that people forget that inventions come about to fix problems.  And while some inventions have introduced new pollutants, many have actually replaced or done away with older even worse pollutants.

My brother almost died from a kerosene heater leak.  I almost died  as a preschooler from falling into a nightsoil tank (a big tank of human manure which acted like quicksand). 

[Pawz4me]

26 minutes ago, sassenach said:

In my family we joke that my grandfather invented select-a-size paper towels. By the time I came along, they would splurge on paper towels but my grandfather would always cut the roll in half to make them last longer.

I confess to cutting dryer sheets in half. Not to save money, but because a half sheet gets our clothes soft/minimizes static and I don't see any reason to use more chemicals than necessary.

[MEmama]

Instead of buying paper towels, my mother saved napkins from restaurants, takeout, etc. We never, ever left a restaurant without taking the unused part of a napkin with us. 

I had never purchased paper towels until covid; at some point my stash of paper napkins gave out and because we weren’t eating out and one of my kitties decided to start throwing up regularly, I had to buy a roll. But, because covid, the only package I could find was a pack of 6 rolls. It’s going to take me several lifetimes to go through them all! Lol

[fairfarmhand]

32 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I think that people forget that inventions come about to fix problems.  And while some inventions have introduced new pollutants, many have actually replaced or done away with older even worse pollutants.

My brother almost died from a kerosene heater leak.  I almost died  as a preschooler from falling into a nightsoil tank (a big tank of human manure which acted like quicksand). 

Yes, I think of the car that my grandmother drove. What a gas hog! But that was what was available at the time. And they had electric radiant floor heaters. So I'm sure that was one reason the house was cool in winter because those are so inefficient. 

[Carol in Cal.]

1 hour ago, fairfarmhand said:

Yep. I think what's so hard for low income people is that there are things that can be done to save money but they all take time. Cooking from scratch, line drying, hand washing underclothes,  cloth diapering, etc. just require time, which is something that the single mom or the 2 income family have little of. 

Yes, and space at home, too.  You can’t buy a 25 lb sack of flour and make your own bread routinely if you don’t have storage, access to a good oven, and time to do it.

[Bootsie]

My grandparents never owned a clothes dryer, garbage disposal, or dishwasher. My grandmother was excited to get a refrigerator to replace her icebox. The family shared one car.  They walked more places (in a small town), but they took a Sunday afternoon drive (in a much less fuel effiicent and environmentally clean car than today's cars) and who knows what they did with the oil when they changed the oil in the car themselves.  

i don't know that my grandmother ever made a yeast-based bread.  Biscuits and cornbread were the breads served.  

[MEmama]

19 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

My grandparents never owned a clothes dryer, garbage disposal, or dishwasher. My grandmother was excited to get a refrigerator to replace her icebox. The family shared one car.  They walked more places (in a small town), but they took a Sunday afternoon drive (in a much less fuel effiicent and environmentally clean car than today's cars) and who knows what they did with the oil when they changed the oil in the car themselves.  

i don't know that my grandmother ever made a yeast-based bread.  Biscuits and cornbread were the breads served.  

My dad poured it onto the ground in a vacant lot next door to our house. 😳

Later he could recycle it at the auto body shop. But he just poured it out at least through my teens (late ‘80s) until a house was built on the lot.

[SKL]

Most of those were things my parents did when I was little (1960s-70s).  In fact, we didn't have air conditioning in the house I lived in as a teen, and we used a woodburner for heat.  My mom made our curtains, bedspreads, and some clothes.  When pants got too short, she added a couple extra inches at the bottom from scrap materials.

We did always have a clothes dryer.  My mom remembered clotheslines and starching-and-ironing everything, and I guess she really hated that job.  😛

My granny had a vegetable garden in the summer, and I remember enjoying her multicolor tomatoes and zucchini bread.  We as kids also had a veggie garden at the community garden plots.

My grandma used to save wrapping paper.  But, she used to save everything.  She was a bit of a hoarder.  I do think it was anxiety over not having enough someday.  (I didn't grow up re-using wrapping paper, but I do save it if it's nice, and I certainly save and re-use gift bags, which amounts to the same thing.  🙂)

We bought my grandma a microwave when she was in her 80s, but she refused to use it.  She was afraid it would blow up or something.

We used undershirts as kids, and changed out of our "school clothes" into "play clothes" so that the school clothes would stay clean and nice.

As for not washing after every wear, I still don't do that for anything except underwear and t-shirts, unless it's clearly dirty. 

The thing about a small house - it naturally prevents excess purchasing.  There's no place to put all that stuff, and you don't forget that you already have something that would serve.  If you really want to replace something, you'll find someone who can use the old one.

[bluemongoose]

I have to go back to my great grandma to come up with the things you are discussing. My GG was born at the end of the 1800s, but she lived into the early 2000s. I remember my clothes, how they felt after being scrubbed on a scrub board and hung out to dry. The jeans could nearly stand on their own. LOL! She used baking soda for toothpaste and saved everything. She did have a dishwasher and a fridge but they were very very old...probably from the fifties. Meals were small and home made. Napkins were always reused if it didn't look dirty enough. The rooms were ice cold at night and the beds were so old that it didnt matter how many quilts you had over you, the draft came up through the very thin mattress over exposed springs. She walked nearly everywhere and was so strong.

My grandma didnt learn to cook and was not a stay at home mom. She had lots of convenience items and basically lived life as we do today.

My mother is a good cook, but also worked out of the home. We were not wealthy and moved a lot. Sometimes the house had only one small wall heater and you just learned to deal with the cold. I learned to fix my clothes when they got holes and to not expect to get new things. We usually didnt live in a place with a dishwasher, but we always had a washer and dryer and other modern conveniences. 

I have gone back to a lot of things my great grandmother did. I enjoy feeling like I can do it. I still use many modern conveniences, but I grind my own flour and make all our baked items from scratch. I do not buy very many premade foods, nearly everything is homemade.  I grow food and can, ferment, or dry it to preserve it. I have chickens. I sew and knit and can work with leather. I have not used a line for drying my clothes, partly because I live in a wet area and partly because we have a lot of allergies in our family. I am able to stay home with my kids, something that has not been possible since my great grandmother. It means we don't drive nice new cars, we hardly ever have a vacation, and my kids pass their clothes down and many are mended, but we are happy. I love this lifestyle. 

[bibiche]

For clothing in particular, my grandmother always had beautiful, well-fitted items of very high quality. However, she had very few clothing items. She would accessorize, change things up, and she always looked elegant. Shoes would be repaired or dyed if necessary, but worn for years. 
 

I have never quite managed her elegance, and it’s a different age anyway, but I do try to follow her example in having very few things, but of good quality, that will last for years. This is much better for the environment than disposable clothing and shoes. Ultimately I’m sure it saves me money too.

Edited November 2, 2021 by bibiche

[Pawz4me]

41 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

and who knows what they did with the oil when they changed the oil in the car themselves

My grandparents poured it around their fence as a grass killer.

[Faith-manor]

49 minutes ago, MEmama said:

My dad poured it onto the ground in a vacant lot next door to our house. 😳

Later he could recycle it at the auto body shop. But he just poured it out at least through my teens (late ‘80s) until a house was built on the lot.

This is what my grandfather did. Motor oil, parts cleaners, you name it. I shudder to think what the well water quality was for the neighbors of his automotive business! This went on I to the 70's, and to my knowledge no environmental clean up has ever occurred.

Many automotive shops these days have waste oil furnaces so they use it for fuel oil.

[Carol in Cal.]

44 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

My grandparents poured it around their fence as a grass killer.

OMGosh, this reminds me, I have relatives who used left over prescription blood thinners after the prescribee died as mouse poison outside.  They ground them up and mixed them into the bait, which was peanut butter or cheese.  "Waste not, want not" was quoted to me when this practice was described.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Carol in Cal.

[Melissa in Australia]

8 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

My mother did most of what has been listed so far.  I particularly remember the careful saving and washing of baggies.

She was very careful about heating and cooling in the house.  In the summer, in the house that we moved into when I was 17 that had almost all south-facing windows, on hot days she would close all the curtains as soon as the sun came over the neighbouring houses to keep the house cool.  Then she would spend the day in the kitchen, which was an add-on extension that sat in the shade of the main structure.  In winter, as soon as it started to get dark, she would close curtains or (in the house I grew up in) solid wooden shutters to keep in the warmth.  When she lived with us, we had to ask her not to close the public-room curtains so early, as we valued every last second of light in the winter.

One thing that I do that she did too is to keep the thermostat low-ish.  As I write, the room I am in is 17.2 degrees C, so 63 degrees F.  I'm wearing lined jeans, wool socks, a flannel shirt, a fleece and a down body-warmer/vest.  I'm drinking hot lemon and ginger tea.  This feels cosy to me, and I don't miss having more heat. 

Her frugal habits did make it hard as she started to lose strength: she didn't have the energy to carry on maintaining her life in such a labour-intensive way, but was not able at that stage to change her habits.

People in Australia still do the close the curtains when it is going to be hot thing. Have the whole house opened until the sun gets up, then everything completely shut, heavy curtains closed over the windows. Keep out a lot of radiant heat and can make a difference of as much as 10 degrees on a 40oC + day

[MEmama]

21 minutes ago, Carol in Cal. said:

OMGosh, this reminds me, I have relatives who used left over prescription blood thinners after the prescribee died as mouse poison outside.  They ground them up and mixed them into the bait, which was peanut butter or cheese.  "Waste not, want not" was quoted to me when this practice was described.

My grandmother was quite the hoarder in her later years. After she died and we cleaned out her house, we found all kinds of things like ancient medications and cosmetics from the 1930’s, and arsenic and mercury under her kitchen sink. 
 

I'm all for saving and reusing, but she took it to excess. My father had admitted many times that it’s a wonder he made it through childhood (he had a lab in the basement and undertook all manners of dangerous activities in the name of science).

[Melissa in Australia]

1 hour ago, Bootsie said:

My grandparents never owned a clothes dryer, garbage disposal, or dishwasher. My grandmother was excited to get a refrigerator to replace her icebox. The family shared one car.  They walked more places (in a small town), but they took a Sunday afternoon drive (in a much less fuel effiicent and environmentally clean car than today's cars) and who knows what they did with the oil when they changed the oil in the car themselves.  

i don't know that my grandmother ever made a yeast-based bread.  Biscuits and cornbread were the breads served.  

Here the car oil is recycled. My dh does the oil changes on our cars. The oil is Collected and put back into the empty container. There is a collection point at the local landfill, where everyone can poor their saved motor oil int a big drum. When the drum is full it is sent to someplace where it is filtered exc. and fully recycled into useable oil

[Pawz4me]

1 minute ago, Melissa in Australia said:

Here the car oil is recycled. My dh does the oil changes on our cars. The oil is Collected and put back into the empty container. There is a collection point at the local landfill, where everyone can poor their saved motor oil int a big drum. When the drum is full it is sent to someplace where it is filtered exc. and fully recycled into useable oil

Yes, I suspect most locations in the U.S. now have various options for disposing of/recycling used motor oil. We can take it to our county landfill, or there are two auto parts stores within a couple of miles of us that accept used oil. But it wasn't all that long ago that those options weren't available. They certainly weren't available when I was a kid, let alone back in my grandparents' prime years.

[Bambam]

The grandmother I remember did the washing baggies and hanging them to dry. 

She only had a wringer washer for years.  They hung out their clothes to dry, but it was in the north, so that was harder in the winter. They had a very large porch that was enclosed, so they hung clotheslines in there during the winter.  

She did a lot of canning - everything from the garden. She also made her own ketchup (which, btw, was awful!) that she stored in old coke bottles (again nasty) that she resealed with the metal pop top things that you pulled off before you could drink.  She also kept all the old metal caps from the coke bottles. I never saw them drink coke though - maybe they did just so they would have something to use to bottle her ketchup? 

She saved any commercial bread wrappers to reuse for bagging things up. She also saved the twist ties and reused them until they were useless. 

Oddly enough, I don't remember her baking bread that often but my mom did a fair amount as she could when we were growing up (she worked outside the home). 

She learned to reupholster furniture - did theirs and had a business where she did that for others. 

They had chickens for the eggs. I remember helping with the slaughter of those chickens sometimes and preparation for freezing them. 

She made quilts from quilt blocks from old clothes. 

My aunt made rag rugs. She also had a huge loom that she made rugs with. 

My other grandmother, than I never really knew, my parent told me that she was really excited when a canning company moved into the neighborhood. She worked during the summer whenever the men folk slaughter an animal - smoking and preserving the meat. It was hot work.  With a canning company in the neighborhood, you could take slaughtered animal there where they would can it, and you would get some of the canned meat as payment for your animal.  That surprised me when I heard it, but I have eaten canned chicken and tuna and salmon, so I guess canned beef works too. 

[YaelAldrich]

4 hours ago, Spryte said:

I love reading threads like these, and take away a lot, but simultaneously find them mildly disturbing and slightly problematic in that there is a temptation to put the onus of making changes on individuals.

My grandparents’ generation did what they did because they had to do it, and replicating a lot of it is impossible, impractical and unaffordable for most people. So we do the things we can, make the changes that make sense for us, and reducing our individual footprints is a positive that adds up.

The more of us doing small things, the better, of course it makes an impact, but I think it behooves us all to put the most pressure where it belongs — on corporations.

Even small changes in corporate policies can have massive impacts that dwarf my own tiny contributions, even when added to others’. 

So, while my grandparents never worked toward influencing a corporation’s policies, I think doing so is likely the greenest action I can take. Everything else is icing.
 

 

This is exactly what my husband who studies environmental studies says. Yes, we should recycle, compost, cloth diaper, etc but in the end it's really what governments and corporations do that will make the real difference.

[Bootsie]

When talking about cooking from scratch and how much time and effort it is, I think there is a wide variety of what people are talking about.  I had one grandmother that would begin by wringing the chicken's neck.  My other grandmother called the local grocery store that had the delivery boy drop things by her house.  Neither baked bread.  From what I have read, making yeast bread in the home has historically been rare.  The amount of energy required for each homemaker to make a loaf of bread at a time was wasteful.  In many cultures, bread was made more in bulk at a bakery or at least cooked in a community oven.  Flat breads, tortillas, pancakes, etc. that cook quickly were more often produced within the home.  

Neither of my grandmothers had a large kitchen (or a pantry at all) and lived in a hot, humid climate that did not lend itself to storing lots of flour or things like that within the home.  But, they managed to cook many things from scratch, as long as they had butter, milk, vinegar, salt, sugar, flour, and baking soda they could make anything from biscuits to pie crusts to cakes.  A homemade meal might be egg salad on lettuce with a piece of fruit, or a bacon, lettucue, tomator sandwich on store bought bread or eggs scrambled with veggies.  They ate less variety of foods--they didn't have pizza on Monday, stir fry on Tuesday, Mexican on Wednesday, etc.  My grandmothers used some convenience, prepared foods such as dried spaghetti, ketchup, and canned peas.  But, many of the meals the fixed were simple and they took less time than sitting in a drivethrough waiting for an order at a fast food restaurant.   

[Carol in Cal.]

2 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

When talking about cooking from scratch and how much time and effort it is, I think there is a wide variety of what people are talking about.  I had one grandmother that would begin by wringing the chicken's neck.  My other grandmother called the local grocery store that had the delivery boy drop things by her house.  Neither baked bread.  From what I have read, making yeast bread in the home has historically been rare.  The amount of energy required for each homemaker to make a loaf of bread at a time was wasteful.  In many cultures, bread was made more in bulk at a bakery or at least cooked in a community oven.  Flat breads, tortillas, pancakes, etc. that cook quickly were more often produced within the home.  

 

Yes, community ovens are a proud tradition and very sensible from an energy/pollution standpoint, too.

I've often considered building my own wood fired oven in the back yard, but can't bring myself to burn all that wood for just us.

[mom2scouts]

My family does most of the things in the OP's list. I don't line dry anymore though because I live where it's often rainy, cloudy, snowy plus I have allergies and the pollen gets on the clothes. My kids shared bedrooms except the one who's a different gender. I cloth diapered all of my kids. Eating out is a very rare treat. Even when we had seven people living at home, we only produced one 30 gallon can of trash each week. We didn't get AC until 2006.

[bibiche]

3 hours ago, bibiche said:

Edited November 2, 2021 by bibiche
One day I’ll get used to the new editing method!

[DreamerGirl]

I do not have to go to my grandparents time, my own childhood was very simple and quite rural even though it was spent in a big, urban city of millions.

When I was very little we drew water from a well for our needs, no running water as in turn on a tap. We did not grow our own food except a few herbs and coconut trees. But every single thing was hand made. Batter and masala was hand ground in various stone grinders, masala powders were made by sun drying first and hand pounding. Every single thing we consumed was made at home. I still remember the smell and the taste of my family kitchen and it is hands down the best I have ever eaten because it was always fresh, no refrigeration, home made and healthy. It took 3 adult women, my mom, grandmom and a domestic worker full time to accomplish this for 4 adults, 2 kids and a family of 4 (our domestic worker's family because we shared our food with her family). My granddad and dad helped with things like cutting meat, fish or more killing a chicken or fish. A milkman delivered our milk every day, morning and evening fresh from his cows. Everything was fresh.  

Every thing was laborious. Heating water for a bath was a chore because someone had to get up early to do that. forget washing your hair. You could only wash your hair once a week because someone had to carry multiple pots or buckets of hot water that was heated elsewhere. Dangerous and someone got burnt pouring scalding, hot water. 

We hand washed clothes, dried them in the sun. 

Everything was  natural, close to nature, home made, hand made.  Life was hard. 

I can still remember the day we had running water from a tap when a motor was used to raise water from the well automatically. It was life changing. Someone still had to remember to fill the tank with water but it was such a relief. My mom rapidly adapted to having machines like the mixer for making powders and chutneys, electric grinders for making batter. When we finally had water heaters in each bathroom. It still took effort to remember to turn the heater 15 minutes before you wanted to take a bath (well bucket baths) but having hot water from a tap was miraculous at that time.

We later had a machine to wash clothes but I hated line drying because you always had to depend on the weather. We had a refrigerator. Of course we always hand washed dishes until recently.

I have spent an entire lifetime trying to recreate the smell and taste of my home kitchen as an adult and it is what home smells for me. But I would never, ever want to go back to that way of living. It was tedious and laborious and did not give women options.

I love technology and gadgets.

I love hot showers at the turn of a handle, little robots that clean and mop, machines that wash clothes and dishes, especially a dryer, an instant pot and the oven where one need not stand and babysit. 

I pushed and pushed and pushed my parents and inlaws to have a dishwasher in my country of origin. Well, did not happen until the pandemic. But suddenly the sale of dishwashers went up by some ridiculous amount like 120% or something. Now everyone in my family has one.

I have tried to incorporate lots of ways of doing things the old ways especially cooking, but I do not ever want to go back to it because I remember how hard it was and more importantly how it gave less or even zero options to women. I would not live the life I live now if I was living that way.

 

 

[Bootsie]

From what I know of my grandparents and earlier generations, they did not eat out much, but they also didn't live a Leave it to Beaver lifestyle with mom preparing a Normal Rockwell painting style meal served in the dining room every day either.  My maternal grandparents lived with my grandfather's family for the first decade of their marrriage--my great grandmother did most of the cooking for several generations, with the help of other family members.  Young teachers rented out rooms in the homes of local families and ate meals with them (rather than working and cooking from scratch).  People who lived in boarding houses ate what was cooked in the boarding house. 

Even in the 1960s I remember my paternal grandmother's kitchen several; several of my aunts/uncles seldom cooked.  My grandmother's kitchen was always busy with cousins, aunts, and uncles eating their meals their (while other adults worked, went to school, worked on the farm, or attended other duties).  

The average person didn't eat out, but a few people specialized in the cooking while others did other types of work.  

[Lucy the Valiant]

My grandparents saved plastic containers & re-used them in the home (leftovers stored in cool whip containers, etc.). They burned wood to heat their home (renewable resource). They bought and used as local as possible, food but also products (made in the USA). They owned fewer but higher quality appliances, etc (things were made to be repair-able, not immediately replaced). Things were not disposable - they "made" their own costumes and party decorations and baby toys out of things they already had. They understood the systems of their house (which they built themselves) and paid regular attention to home maintenance & repair. 

They taught me the old phrase "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without" - but NOT because they were forced to do so; rather, they CHOSE to do so. They were happy & contented people, even though they also lived through hardship.

They believed deeply in the values of conservation, at every level. 

Edited November 2, 2021 by Lucy the Valiant

[Lecka]

My grandparents who lived through the Great Depression were food hoarders.  They were sensible in every other way.  Not into shopping, etc.

But the food hoarding!  

When I was a teenager I helped to sneak out rotten food from the basement and from kitchen cabinets.

I don’t remember this but my mom has said that if they went to the store and there was a deal on food they would buy the deal whether they needed the food or not.

I also think they suffered from deprivation, and that is the reason why.

It makes me not want to stock up on food too much.  
 

Basically — new food was put to the front while old food was pushed back, and my grandmother canned from her garden until the last few years of her life, plus buying canned food at the store.  
 

We had to go through their refrigerator and freezer for rotting or expired food, too, but that was a lot more minor compared to the rotting canned goods.  
 

We had to hide things we took out because we could have a burst jar or can, and my grandparents would say it was still good and we should keep it just in case.  
 

Edit:  they were frugal, mature people in every other way.  But food hoarding is just not a good thing to do.  

Edited November 2, 2021 by Lecka

[Kareni]

I spent more time with one grandmother so don't know too much about what my other grandmother did. (I never knew either of my grandfathers.)

My grandmother would save bits of soap and use them to wash the dishes. She used something similar to this.

I also recall that she would collect the hair from her hairbrush (in a net bag, I think) and use it as part of a bun.

Regards,

Kareni

[regentrude]

5 hours ago, YaelAldrich said:

This is exactly what my husband who studies environmental studies says. Yes, we should recycle, compost, cloth diaper, etc but in the end it's really what governments and corporations do that will make the real difference.

but corporations will follow the market, and the market is dominated by the consumer.
If people don't buy it, they won't make it. A reduction in consumption will lead to a reduction in production. If nobody ate meat, there wouldn't be feedlots.

Edited November 3, 2021 by regentrude

[Melissa in Australia]

24 minutes ago, regentrude said:

but corporations will follow the market, and the market is dominated by the consumer.
If people don't buy it, they won't make it. A reduction in consumption will lead to a reduction in production. If nobody ate meat, there wouldn't be feedlots.

This

exactly

[SKL]

Oh, I used to wash and re-use all ziplock bags.  It felt like such a waste to just use them once.  Eventually I procured more durable reusable items, because ziplock bags aren't the easiest things to wash.  😛

I wasn't allowed to cloth diaper - it was vetoed by my housemates (we share laundry machines).  So I studied EC and invested in little potties.  Still had some diapers that ended up in landfills, but the least I reasonably could.  (My mom and hers of course used only cloth diapers.  We were way too poor to buy disposable.)

Was walking everywhere mentioned?  My kids think I'm lying when I tell them I had exactly zero rides to school in my life.  😛  Last week I went on a rant about how this generation of students is supposed to be the one that saves the earth, but apparently not one single high schooler is able to walk more than 100 steps to get to school.  😛  The dropoff line is so ridiculous, it is almost a mile down the road.  (Normally I would drop my kids off a distance from the school, because we live 3 miles away.)

[Melissa in Australia]

5 minutes ago, SKL said:

Oh, I used to wash and re-use all ziplock bags.  It felt like such a waste to just use them once.  Eventually I procured more durable reusable items, because ziplock bags aren't the easiest things to wash.  😛

I wasn't allowed to cloth diaper - it was vetoed by my housemates (we share laundry machines).  So I studied EC and invested in little potties.  Still had some diapers that ended up in landfills, but the least I reasonably could.  (My mom and hers of course used only cloth diapers.  We were way too poor to buy disposable.)

Was walking everywhere mentioned?  My kids think I'm lying when I tell them I had exactly zero rides to school in my life.  😛  Last week I went on a rant about how this generation of students is supposed to be the one that saves the earth, but apparently not one single high schooler is able to walk more than 100 steps to get to school.  😛  The dropoff line is so ridiculous, it is almost a mile down the road.  (Normally I would drop my kids off a distance from the school, because we live 3 miles away.)

Yes I had zero rides to school as well..

My mum didn't have a car.  Only very wealthy people had 2 cars. 

[Murphy101]

10 hours ago, sassenach said:

In my family we joke that my grandfather invented select-a-size paper towels. By the time I came along, they would splurge on paper towels but my grandfather would always cut the roll in half to make them last longer.

The only time in my life I have ever bought paper towels was bc the midwife specifically asked for them in the birth kit and and I would make “homemade” baby wipes by cutting a roll in half and putting it in a large plastic bowl and mixing my own solution of cleansing stuff to pour over it. Gah I hated the “cut all the paper rolls in half day” my arms hurt so much after cutting that sams size package of paper towels. But it came out to something like .01 a wipe vs buying even generic wipes at the time.

eta: when we did cloth diapers I did cloth wipes in addition to these which horrified the more crunchy mamas I knew. LOL

Edited November 3, 2021 by Murphy101

[Melissa in Australia]

1 minute ago, Murphy101 said:

The only time in my life I have ever bought paper towels was bc the midwife specifically asked for them in the birth kit and and I would make “homemade” baby wipes by cutting a roll in half and putting it in a large plastic bowl and mixing my own solution of cleansing stuff to pour over it. Gah I hated the “cut all the paper rolls in half day” my arms hurt so much after cutting that sams size package of paper towels. But it came out to something like .01 a wipe vs buying even generic wipes at the time.

eta: when we did cloth diapers I did cloth wipes in addition to these which horrified the more crunchy mamas I knew. LOL

I had never heard of that before. We always just used a damp cloth nappy. All the cloth went into the nappy pail to soak and washed once a day.  Though I did know someone who used flannels ( face washers)

[fairfarmhand]

8 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

 

eta: when we did cloth diapers I did cloth wipes in addition to these which horrified the more crunchy mamas I knew. LOL

See I never used disposable wipes with cloth diapers. I had cloths just for bottoms and would roll them up with the diapers and wash it all together. 

[Murphy101]

10 hours ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I think that people forget that inventions come about to fix problems.  And while some inventions have introduced new pollutants, many have actually replaced or done away with older even worse pollutants.

My brother almost died from a kerosene heater leak.  I almost died  as a preschooler from falling into a nightsoil tank (a big tank of human manure which acted like quicksand). 

That’s my thought. I have zero desire to pretend the good ole days were grand. They weren’t. There’s a reason all those grandparents usually embraced inventions.  My grandparents had 12 and 8 children respectively. Only 8 and 5 lived to adulthood. Only 6 and 4 lived to age 60.

I’m a big proponent of good stewardship. Don’t buy what you don’t need. Don’t waste what you can use.  I don’t think that’s a generational thing though.  I think it tends to be starvation and homelessness really sucks so people avoid it thing while big corporations who do most of the waste and pollution and have lots of money feel better bc they have a recycle bin next to the lobby vending machine.

 

[Murphy101]

4 minutes ago, fairfarmhand said:

See I never used disposable wipes with cloth diapers. I had cloths just for bottoms and would roll them up with the diapers and wash it all together. 

I did that most of the time but frankly poop is nasty and the homemade wipes were gentler and better clean up on the tush without having to run and get the washcloth wet. The plastic tub held a lot more wet wipes than wet wash clothes and we always seemed to run out at a crucial crap moment. 

[Bootsie]

I am surprised by how many people have commented on their grandparents washing and reusing cool whip and margarine containers.  I thought that was just something most people did.  It is rare that I throw a container like that in the recycling bin before reusing it at least once.  Sometimes it is simply to send leftovers home with someone or put food for kids to take places where I don't care if I get a container back.

Also, Cool Whip was not invented until the mid 1960s and I think tub margarine is from about that same time period.  I guess those were new-fangled containers at the time.  I remember Vacation Bible School art projects in which dyed rice was glued to the lids of those plastic containers.  My mom and grandmother both had these decorated containers on their dressing tables to hold their hairpins.  

[Melissa Louise]

15 hours ago, Bootsie said:

My grandparents never owned a clothes dryer, garbage disposal, or dishwasher. My grandmother was excited to get a refrigerator to replace her icebox. The family shared one car.  They walked more places (in a small town), but they took a Sunday afternoon drive (in a much less fuel effiicent and environmentally clean car than today's cars) and who knows what they did with the oil when they changed the oil in the car themselves.  

i don't know that my grandmother ever made a yeast-based bread.  Biscuits and cornbread were the breads served.  

How am I less technological than your Grandma?

I've never had a garbage disposal, clothes dryer or dishwasher, and I've never had a car! To me this seems normal but I guess it isn't!

(I remember as a toddler both a mangle and an icebox in my grandmother's house.)

[Laura Corin]

I've posted before about my mum and appliances. My parents bought a twin-tub washing machine in 1958 to wash my brother's nappies. She finally replaced it in the early 80s when the parts that she used to repair it herself were no longer available. This is it. I can't say that I'm nearly that saving.

Her attitude to making do and mending did cause her trouble though. She delayed fixing her roof for so long that it needed to be completely replaced, joists and all, because of the damage.

Edited November 3, 2021 by Laura Corin

[Melissa in Australia]

ohh. I had an old twin tub for the first 4  years of marriage. we still have it in the shed

[Carrie12345]

16 hours ago, bluemongoose said:

My grandma didnt learn to cook and was not a stay at home mom. She had lots of convenience items and basically lived life as we do today

My grandmother definitely did cook... because my grandparents owned a tavern, lol.   My grandfather also participated in the cooking. Looking back, they made a really good business and household team in that regard. I miss listening to them bicker over the dishes they were preparing 😆.

My great-grandmothers (at least the ones I knew) worked, too. And my mom mostly worked except for some periods with actual babies at home. We might think of the first 60-80 years of the 1900s as being done a certain way, but there was a ton of variation.

[Murphy101]

10 hours ago, Bootsie said:

I am surprised by how many people have commented on their grandparents washing and reusing cool whip and margarine containers.  I thought that was just something most people did.  It is rare that I throw a container like that in the recycling bin before reusing it at least once.  Sometimes it is simply to send leftovers home with someone or put food for kids to take places where I don't care if I get a container back.

Also, Cool Whip was not invented until the mid 1960s and I think tub margarine is from about that same time period.  I guess those were new-fangled containers at the time.  I remember Vacation Bible School art projects in which dyed rice was glued to the lids of those plastic containers.  My mom and grandmother both had these decorated containers on their dressing tables to hold their hairpins.  

We are the only people I know who reuse plastic containers and jars and water bottles.  We are the only people I know who don’t buy paper towels, napkins and plates and cups.

[Murphy101]

5 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

My grandmother definitely did cook... because my grandparents owned a tavern, lol.   My grandfather also participated in the cooking. Looking back, they made a really good business and household team in that regard. I miss listening to them bicker over the dishes they were preparing 😆.

My great-grandmothers (at least the ones I knew) worked, too. And my mom mostly worked except for some periods with actual babies at home. We might think of the first 60-80 years of the 1900s as being done a certain way, but there was a ton of variation.

My grandmothers worked. My paternal grandmother worked very hard and had multiple full on careers. She was considered a real b- but I look on what I know of her life and think well yeah she had to be.  My mother worked very hard to her health detriment.  All the women in my family except for me - worked more outside the home than in it.  On my husbands side, both his grandmothers worked in hospitals full time.  There’s letters from a great grandmother to my grandmother discussing great grandmother’s work at the bank becoming too much as she got older.  More women worked to some capacity for income in the good ole days than history really discusses.  

[SKL]

13 hours ago, Murphy101 said:

eta: when we did cloth diapers I did cloth wipes in addition to these which horrified the more crunchy mamas I knew. LOL

We always had a couple of specific soft cloth wipes for poo.  There was no need to use wipes for pee.

[MEmama]

29 minutes ago, Murphy101 said:

My grandmothers worked. My paternal grandmother worked very hard and had multiple full on careers. She was considered a real b- but I look on what I know of her life and think well yeah she had to be.  My mother worked very hard to her health detriment.  All the women in my family except for me - worked more outside the home than in it.  On my husbands side, both his grandmothers worked in hospitals full time.  There’s letters from a great grandmother to my grandmother discussing great grandmother’s work at the bank becoming too much as she got older.  More women worked to some capacity for income in the good ole days than history really discusses.  

Absolutely. June Cleaver was nothing more than marketing. 

And before that, we’ll, it’s best to erase the work women did because we can’t give them actual credit now can we? Hurts the Great American Myth we work so hard at perpetuating.

Blech. I hope this next generation sees through it.