What World War Two Taught Us About Recycling

Most people consider recycling to be a recent phenomenon, however, there is evidence of recycling from as long ago as 400BC. It was around the mid 1900s though that recycling was first done a mass scale.

During the World War II, resources were hard to come by and Governments ran massive recycling campaigns to ensure as little as possible was wasted. Here are a few examples of what was recycled and for what reason…

- Tins and metal were recycled for use in aircraft, tanks and weapons.

- Left over food provided feed for pigs, chickens and goats and people would bring their scraps to communal bins.

- Rubber was recycled to make new tires.

- Boiled bones were used to make glue for aircraft or made into glycerin for explosives.

People were also encouraged to repair belongings rather than buy new. Campaigns like ‘Make Do & Mend’ gave advice on how to recycle 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 purchased in small quantities and meals were made with some interesting substitutes. Meat fat was saved to make pastry, and even the cream from milk was collected in a jar and shaken to make butter.

It is sad that it took people so long to recognize the importance of recycling, and also that it required such miserable 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.

However, we are still falling well below targets for diverting waste from landfill sites. Though we know what we should be doing, and though it is not difficult 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.

The uses of recyclable materials are different now from what they were 60 years ago, but we can still look to our grandparents and the older generations for tips and inspiration. If they could do it, then why can’t we recycle too? We should all be doing what we can now, and not be waiting for a major crisis to kick-start us into mass recycling again.
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Ware 4 Recycling Bins Ltd have been promoting cost effective recycling bins, trolleys and waste containers for over 5 years.

Good Reasons To Recycle Paper

The environment benefits greatly from paper being recycled and, fortunately, it is not at all difficult to do. Once it has been collected (by either your local authority or a recycling company acting on their behalf), it is taken to a paper mill, who take care of the rest of the recycling process.

Once at the mill, the scrap paper is added to water and then turned into pulp. Having been turned into pulp, it is then cleaned and de-inked. It is then ready to be made into new products such as newspapers, toilet rolls and other paper based items commonly found in the home and office.

Below are some of the environmental and money saving benefits of recycling paper:

Saves Trees - The most obvious reason to recycle paper is for saving trees which provide vital oxygen for the planet. Just 1 ton of recycled paper saves at least 16 of them.

Wildlife Preservation - More often than not, the wildlife that lives in the trees that are cut down to make ‘new’ paper, die quickly because they cannot adapt to living anywhere else. Recycling paper means that they can die natural deaths instead of forced ones.

Less Water Consumption - To make ‘new’ paper requires vast amounts of water, whereas the process of recycling paper uses up much less of this important resource.

Saves Electricity - Producing electricity seriously damages the environment, but more than 400 kilowatt hours are saved by recycling 1 ton of paper.

Reduces Oil Dependence - Recycling paper reduces our dependence on oil. For every ton of paper that is recycled, approximately 2 barrels of oil are saved.

Saves Space - Recycling paper reduces space in landfills. 1 ton of recycled paper made from scraps can save 3 cubic yards.

Less Pollution - Paper can burn in municipal waste incinerators that can spew out all kinds of air pollutants. When many incinerators are in urban locations, everyone would benefit from breathing better air if there were fewer of them.

Creates Jobs - Think about all the people who work within the paper recycling industry. Collectors, sorters and machine operators being just a few of them. The more that we recycle, the more of these jobs there will be created.

Paper Logs - Many people are now turning to paper logs as a supplementary fuel source. Consisting of tightly compressed briquettes of paper, these logs can be thrown on a fire or used in a wood burner to provide heat for free.

Cheaper Paper - Recycled paper is often cheap to purchase. Buying cheaper, recycled goods encourages more recycled goods to be manufactured, sustaining the recycling industry.
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http://www.paperlogmaker.org.uk is a website dedicated to the recycling of paper. At their site you can find out what a paper log maker is and how it can help you recycle paper.

Recycling - Why You Should Recycle Steel And Aluminum Cans

Each and every year thousands upon thousands of tons of trash is poured into landfills. Though we are in no immediate danger of running short on landfill space, this is expensive in terms of time, space, and energy invested, as well as the sheer waste of materials that will not ever be used again. With that in mind, consider the reasons below for keeping your aluminum and steel cans out of the landfill by recycling them instead.

- Aluminum that has been recycled is back in use again within a couple of months. In contrast, it would take 200-500 years for that same to break down naturally if were just thrown away.

- Recycling is not just about material savings, but also about energy consciousness. Every aluminum can which is recycled saves enough energy to run a tv for 3 hours; one pound of cans recycled will save enough energy to run it for four days!

- Metal cans can be exchanged for cash at many places. Various states offer five cents per can recycled, and certain centers offer between a dollar and two dollars per pound of cans recycled.

- Recycled steel and aluminum are no different in composition from ‘new’ aluminum and steel. Recycled metals are simply melted down and then forged into new products, which can then be recycled again when they are finished being used.

- On average, Americans recycle 105,784 aluminum cans per minute. The majority of that number is a result of particular communities working hard on special projects that they set-up, and that is something that you should encourage those in your neighborhood to take up, as recycling can bring communities together.

- The 100,000,000 ‘new’ steel cans made every day contain 25% recycled materials. That equates to 25 million reclaimed cans vs. 75 million completely new cans. If more people recycled, that number would soon become 50-50 and a great deal of resources and energy would be saved.

- The United States currently uses steel which is more than 65 percent recycled. That is not too bad, but there is definitely room for improvement. Significant further progress would be made if more people were aware that they can recycle their steel cans.

- There are multiple can-crushing machines on the market that can be used to make the job easier, and you can even make a home-made one for free. This removes the a commonly used excuse that recycling cans takes up too much space within your home.
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http://www.cancrusher.org.uk is a site offering information about recycling aluminum and steel cans.

Green Crafts For Kids

By teaching your child the fundamental of being a sound steward to Mother Nature while they are youthful, you can instill a lasting devotion of the earth and environmentally-friendly living.

Your kids can learn enjoyable habits to save our earth’s native resources. Youngsters learn by doing, so implementing some green crafts for children into your time together is a fantastic way to get them started down the right road. Green crafts require that you use recycled materials for supplies, things that would ordinarily go out with the trash.

Green Crafts for kids #1: Picture Puzzle
Don’t throw out those old post cards, small printed posters, or holiday greeting cards, they yield excellent fodder for a green crafts for children project picture puzzle. Take your assorted items and mount them using glue (glue stick works fine) on a cardboard backing or matte board. Using transparent contact paper, cover up the full board, trimming the edges as necessary.

Subsequently, get a box cutter or Exacto knife and rule and cut your brand new artwork into several pieces to make a picture puzzle. Don’t want to cut up your beautiful creation? Then use it for a unique placemat! Either way, the kids can have entertainment reworking the puzzle time and time again or enjoying their shrewdness on exhibit at your table, and you just saved some items from the landfill|.

Whichever you prefer, the youngsters will have hours of entertainment putting the puzzle together again and again or just looking at it on the table, and you saved the landfill some preventable trash. As a special note, always watch your youngster when using the box cutter or Exacto knife, or do the cutting component of the project yourself for safety’s sake.

Tiny hands and sharp instruments never mix!
Green Crafts for kids #2: Super Crayon
No house with youngsters is complete without dozens and dozens of broken crayons among their inventory. Every home with kids has hundreds of old, broken crayons laying around! Never fear, there’s no reason to toss those costly Crayola’s; simply change them into a mega crayon. Get all of the crayon tips and scraps from the crayon box, and remove all of the paper wrappers. Fill a clean, tomato paste can with broken crayons until it’s around