Then: S & H Green Stamps Now: Going Green

Then :  S & H Green Stamps

Now:    Going Green

Before coupons and member reward cards, grocery stores gave away trading stamps.  Remember those?  The most popular ones where I lived were S&H Green stamps and their competitor the Blue Chip Stamp.

I can’t tell you how many hours I spent licking those stamps and placing them into the stamp book.  I have to say, those were wonderful times even though my sister and I would argue over who was going to paste which stamps where.  Go figure.  I guess sisters can fight about anything.  And I certainly don’t know what the thrill was in all that licking.  It definitely wasn’t in preparation for any future occupation.  It was just one of  those sisterly moments

Once the books were complete we would go with our mom to the Redemption Center.  A large building offering all sorts of items ranging from toasters to dog bowls.  But it didn’t really matter what product we got by trading in our stamps.  The act itself was a symbol of  “life in the 1960’s.”

Today, rather than “saving green”  we are supposed  to be “going green” in order to save our planet.
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Lately, I’ve been wondering why we’re going Green.  Why not Blue?  I mean isn’t this whole business about saving the atmosphere and the last time I checked the sky was blue.  Or why not White?  Let’s go White!  White reflects the sunlight off the earth. And isn’t that the purpose of going green? To preserve the Earth from the sun and global warming?

But okay, so we’re going stuck with calling it Green.  I suppose because vegetation is green and that’s the color we think of when thinking about Mother Earth.

But whatever color we call it, it is everywhere.  From the products we put on our bodies (lotions, creams, sprays,)   in our bodies (food, vitamins, water) over our bodies (blankets,  umbrellas, roof tops) to those under our bodies (seat covers, carpets, fertilizers). From cleaning our sinks to sending greeting cards.  From changing diapers to watching TV.  Nothing is exempt.

And this does get expensive.  If you have a choice between buying your kids new shoes or buying organically grown toilet paper, well, is there really a choice?

I’m  all for saving the environment.  Don’t get me wrong.   But I’m also for saving my sanity.  And that calls for savings those greenbacks that I get each week and spending them in the thriftiest way possible.  Even it means every now and then I have to go—ungreen.

I’m not being unpatriotic or uncaring.  I care about this earth as much as the next person.  In fact, I’m still using the clothes basket that I got from that stamp center so many years ago.  I fill it up with papers, cans and bottles and carry it to the recycle bin outside.  And each time I do, I see my sister and I bonding together just as tightly as those stamps stuck to the page in the trading book.