What World War Two Taught Us About Recycling
Many of us think of recycling as a recent phenomenon of the green revolution, however, there is evidence of recycling taking place from as far back as 300BC. It was around the mid 1900s though that recycling was first done a mass scale. During the Second World War, resources were hard to come by and Governments ran massive recycling campaigns to ensure as little as possible was wasted. Waste was segregated for the following uses:
- Metal and tine were collected for use weapons, tanks and aircraft.
- Kitchen waste provided feed for pigs, chickens and goats.
- Rubber was collected to make new tires.
- Boiled bones were recycled to make glue for aircraft or turned into glycerin for bombs.
People were also encouraged to mend belongings, such as clothes, rather than buy new. Campaigns like ‘Make Do And Mend’ and ‘Sew And Save’ advised people on how to recycle textiles and patch up their worn out clothes. As a result, knitting became very popular during the Second World War.
On war time rations, families had to plan meals carefully so as to minimize wastage. Perishable food had to be bought in small quantities and substitutes had to be found for foods that were no longer available. Meat fat was commonly saved to make pastry, and even the cream from milk was collected in a jar and shaken to make butter.
It is a shame that it took people such a long time to recognize the importance of recycling, and also that it required such unfortunate circumstances to draw it to our attention. These days, we realize the importance of recycling to preserve the Earth’s resources, save money, reduce pollution and help combat climate change.
Even so, we are still falling well below targets for diverting waste from landfill sites. Though we know what we should be doing, and though it has been made easier for us to do it, there is still a very much laid back attitude to recycling. Too many of us simply cannot be bothered to recycle, and that is undoing the good work being done by those who do take the little time and effort required to recycle.
The uses of recyclable materials may be different now from what they were 60 years ago, but we can still take inspiration from our grandparents. If they could recycle, then why can’t we recycle too? We should all be taking action now, and not be waiting around for a major catastrophe to kick-start us into action again.