How Americans Have Recycled in the Past

1. Disposable diapers
2. Sanitary products
3. Kleenex tissues
4. Disposable razors
5. Paper plates and bowls
6. Plastic silverware
7. Takeout food containers
8. Plastic bottles
9. Milk jugs

Before Disposable Items Were Available

Disposable diapers are something no young mother could ever think of doing without. But older generations did not have this luxury. They did something that young people today would consider (too gross) to do. They used cloth diapers and the feces and urine were rinsed out, then the diapers were washed and hung on a line in the sunshine to dry, taken down, folded and put away to be used the next day and often times were used for the next baby. When they worn thin or had holes or tears, they were then used as cleaning rags.

Women’s sanitary products were also at one time used in the same way. My one hundred and one year old female friend tells me how she would use flannel pads that were washed, dried and reused. Can any woman image doing that today?

And disposable Kleenex tissues have replaced the old fashioned handkerchiefs that were washable and therefore reusable.

Picnics would not be picnics today if we didn’t have disposable plates, cups and plastic silverware. All which we take for granted. At one time however, real plates, glasses and silverware were packed into a picnic basket. All items were taken home, washed and packed away to be used for the next outing.

Take Out Food

We now live in a world of takeout food and fast food restaurants. Who hasn’t ordered in pizza or brought home Chinese food for supper? No dishes or pots and pans to clean up. That is truly the way to go. All the mess goes straight into the garbage except for putting those pizza boxes or sandwich boxes into the recycling bin.

Recycling Cans And Bottles

Cans and plastic bottles are now used in place of glass jars and containers. Consider for example, milk used to come in glass jugs while soda came in glass bottles. Milk jugs were returned to the dairy where they were thoroughly scrubbed and scalded to make certain they were sanitized to be used again. Soda bottles were collected to be turned in and in exchange you received 5 cents per bottle. Today, milk, soda, water and other beverages almost all come in plastic containers. These plastic containers should then be collected and recycled.

Cans are also recycled to make new cans. Now we save and return aluminum cans and receive money back for the aluminum cans.

How Americans Recycled During The Depression Years

During the depression era, nothing was thrown away that could possibly be used again. People found uses for everything. This is a short list of some of the items that people recycled.

1. Flour sacks were emptied, cleaned and were reused for clothing and quilts
2. Sheets and clothing were never thrown away. They were mended and when they were no longer salvageable, they were used as cleaning rags
3. Even the smallest soap slivers were not thrown away. They were used in some other way such as melted with other slivers to make new cakes of soap or some were thrown into the wringer washer to wash dirty clothes
4. Tires on bikes and cars were patched instead of replaced. Tires were also used as tree swings for children
5. Chickens were for meat and eggs but the feathers were also washed, dried and used in pillows and blankets

Americans Recycled Everything For The War Effort

One of the biggest recycling efforts that ever took place occurred during World War II when just about everything was recycled for the purpose of making necessary war items. There were huge campaigns asking people to support the war effort with their old unused items.

• Scrap metal was collected and used for making tanks, airplanes and ships
• Cans were also recycled for the same purposes
• Old clothes made blankets and uniforms as well as other clothing for the soldiers
• Pots and pans were used as scrap metal
• Rubber of any kind which was in extremely short supply. This included raincoats, rubber boots and even old records
• Newspapers and magazines
• Animal fat was collected and used for explosives in the war.
• Even children sacrificed their favorite metal and plastic toys to help the soldiers

This list sounds an awful lot like the items we still recycle, doesn’t it?

Life Changes How We Recycle

Recycling and the way we live our lives has changed through the years. Our ancestors did their part in saving the earth by recycling the materials that they had available to them. From Colonial times, when even the smallest scraps of clothe were saved to be sewn into blankets, through the depression era and several wars, Americans have been recycling.

Today, we have many more modern conveniences that make our lives so much better than other generations. Those conveniences do use more energy but could any of us do without them? We can still do our part by recycling and conserving what we can to save our earth for future generations.