Recycling Tips From World War Two

Many people think of recycling as a recent phenomenon of the green revolution however there is evidence of recycling from as far back as 400BC. During the Second World War resources were scarce and the Government ran massive recycling campaigns to ensure nothing was wasted

Households were asked to wash their recyclables before putting them out in tied bundles. Waste was segregated for the following uses:

Tins and metal were collected for use in aircraft, tanks and weapons
Boiled bones were used to make glue for aircraft, ground up to make fertilser or made into glycerine for explosives.
Kitchen waste provided feed for pigs, chickens and goats and people would bring their scraps to communal bins
Paper for munitions – newspapers were printed on low quality paper
Rubber was collected to make tyres

Households were also encouraged to mend belongings such as clothes rather than buy new. Campaigns such as ‘Make Do and Mend’ and ‘Sew and Save’ gave advice on how to recycle your textiles and make clothes last longer. Knitting also became very popular during the Second World War.

On war time rations families had to plan meals carefully to ensure that food did not go to waste. With no fridges or freezers perishable food had to be bought in small quantities and meals were made with some interesting substitutes – tomato and cheese to make mock crab! Meat fat was saved to make pastry and even the cream from milk was collected in a jar and shaken to make butter and buttermilk.

Nowadays we realise the importance of recycling to preserve the Earth’s resources, save money, reduce pollution and help combat climate change. However, in the UK we are still falling well below European targets for diverting waste from landfill. The uses of recyclable materials may be different now from what they were during the War but we can still look to our grandparents and the older generations for tips and inspiration.

The Government recycling programme WRAP currently estimates that around 8.3 million tonnes of food is discarded every year in the UK, equating to an average household value of £650. It is also estimated that a staggering 1.2 million tonnes of textile waste are dumped in landfill.

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