Recycling ideas for a new generation

9:25am Wednesday 2nd January 2008

Recycling is the buzzword of the moment. But it is anything but a new phenomenon.

Throughout the ages, people have re-used old goods to make new ones. This was particularly the case in times of austerity such as during the war years. Those who lived through Second World War will recall the "Make Do and Mend" propaganda, when rationing was in place and citizens were encouraged to make new from old. Such practices, when carried out for long periods, tended to be carried on, and passed down to the next generation. With the new "Three Rs" - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle mantra, things have gone full-circle. We spoke to three generations of one family to see how their perceptions of recycling differ.

Retired college lecturer and leading pensioners' rights campaigner Audrey Raistrick, 81, lives in Eccleshill with husband Peter, 82, a retired foreign commodities broker. She has three grown-up children and four grandchildren.

Audrey and Peter were, as they say, "brought up on recycling".

Efforts were made to make everything last as long as possible. "People would always repair their own shoes," says Audrey. "Each family owned a last and we were all taught cobbling. We knew how to turn a heel' and I remember my uncle banging nails into the soles of shoes."

During the Second World War, the slogan "Make do and Mend" was everywhere. Clothing and materials were hard to come by, largely due to the number of Merchant navy ships that were sunk while crossing the Channel. Clothing manufacturers were commissioned to make uniforms as a priority instead of civilian fashion. Says Audrey: "Girls were taught to knit and sew, and to mend socks. Boys were taught woodwork, which they put to use around the house. You just could not afford anything new. If your toy broke you stuck it back together and then you stuck it back together again. And when you grew out of your clothes, they were passed down to younger members of the family."

Adds Peter: "I was brought up to mend things and when I used to hear children and young people talking about throwing things away it was a bit of a shock. In our day, you couldn't afford anything new so you had to fix things. And jumble sales were a must - we didn't have anything like Primark or Matalan."

During the war, Peter was a naval gunner, and was instructed to save every spent shell. "They had to be recycled."

He believes that for some people, recycling is seen as something new. "They are reluctant to do it, after spending so long throwing things away."

Adds Audrey: "I own clothes that I've worn for years," before heading off to pluck a coat from her wardrobe. "I've had this for 20 years and it still looks fine. And when something does wear out, such as a shirt, I cut it up for dusters. Necessity is the mother of invention."

Audrey and Peter are very energy-conscious. "I am selective about which lights we have on, and we use low-wattage bulbs," says Audrey, who believes that there is a lot of waste. "We all talk about saving energy and how important it is, yet you see so many lights blazing. Look at Las Vegas and New York - I get so annoyed when I see so much energy being used while we are all trying to save it at home."

They recycle as much as possible. "I've got bags hanging on the back of the kitchen door, for this and that - we recycle papers, tins and bottles."

Adds Peter: "For our grandchildren it is a way of life. We all have to recycle - it is necessary.

Kate Raistrick, 38, lives in Idle with her husband and children, Laura and Billy.

Kate sees her peer group as "more of a throwaway generation" who have had been steered towards recycling by the high-profile campaigns by national and local Government.

"My generation has grown up with quick-easy, disposable products like nappies," she says. "It extends to electrical items which are so cheaply available that when they break people don't tend to get them fixed, they throw them away and go and buy a new one."

She admits that before the recycling drive of recent years, it was not high on her agenda. "We started recycling consciously about a year ago when we got the recycling bin, and there was a big push by the Council. Before that we didn't do much. The only things we would hang on to to be reused were nice gift bags, and maybe a few Christmas cards for the children to cut up for labels.

She did, however, mend clothing using a sewing machine. "That is mum and dad's influence rubbing off on me," she says. "Although it is tempting to buy replacements with clothing being available so cheaply nowadays."

"People are having to change their behaviour and live a greener lifestyle. Because, for instance, they are getting accustomed to looking at packaging on foods, they are starting to make more demands. We are encouraged to look for ecologically-friendly products in the shops, and to reuse carrier bags - the children have grown up with all that, whereas we have to get used to it."

She adds: "In the past, recycling would never have come up in conversation, but now people talk about it. It is a way of life. Laura went on a school trip to a recycling centre. When I was a child we would have thought it was mad to visit the local waste tip - I wouldn't have wanted to go. But nowadays it is seen as normal because for most people it is part of family life.

"They learn about global warming in school, but as children we hadn't heard of it. We can learn from them."

Laura, ten, and eight-year-old Billy are pupils at Thorpe Primary School in Idle.

In days gone by, a school trip to a local tip would have been met with grimaces. Not so, nowadays. Laura recently joined her classmates on an outing to the household recycling centre in Midland Road, Manningham. "It was really good," she says.

For schools, climate change is a hot topic, whereas their parents and grandparents became aware of it relatively recently. "We learn a lot about recycling and how it can help the world," says Billy. In the classroom, recycling is part of the daily routine.

At home, the pair are keen recyclers. Says Billy: "We recycle glass bottles, paper, plastic containers and the inside of toilet rolls. By saving paper you can save trees."

Adds Laura: "It is important that we recycle. All my friends do it. We are doing it to stop climate change and help the planet."

• For further information on recyling in Bradford ring (01274) 431000 or www.bradford.gov.uk and click on the link to environment/recycling.

Recycling factfile

• The first recorded landfill site dates back to 3000BC when large pits were created in the Cretan capital Knossos, and covered with earth at various levels.
  
  

• Composting is known to have been part of life in China during the European Bronze Age, 2000BC.
  
  

• In 1588 Elizabeth l granted special privileges for the collection of rags for papermaking.
  
  

• In the early 1800s many people lived by selling what they found in other people's rubbish, even dung which was valuable as it was used by tanners for purifying leather.
  
  

• By the late 1800s household waste is collected in movable ash bins. The waste is sorted into salvageable materials. Glass and metal are returned to merchants. Fine ash and hard-core from incinerated residue are used in building materials.
  
  

• In 1898 the British Paper Company was established specifically to make paper and board from recycled materials. Waste paper is obtained from organisations such as the Salvation Army and rag-and-bone merchants.
  
  

• In 1921 the British Waste Paper Association (initially the Association of London Paper Merchants) is established to help develop the trade in waste paper for recycling.
  
  

• The first bottle banks appeared in Britain in 1977.
  
  

• Today in Britain, it is estimated that every household throws away more than a tonne of waste annually. Across the country, we currently recycle and compost between 19 and 23 per cent (www.wasteonline.org.uk)

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