Beech Tree News Network

In 1943, in order to save copper, the U.S. mint made pennies from steel.  The U.S. was in the thick of WWII, and there were a lot of changes afoot.  There was a big recycling effort going on in local households all across the country.  When I was looking around in the WWII Museum I told you about last week, I came across an entire exhibit devoted to recycling during the war effort.  There were original bill boards from the era encouraging citizens to:  SAVE WASTE FATS FOR EXPLOSIVES; SAVE YOUR CANS, HELP PASS THE AMMUNITION; JOIN A CAR SHARING CLUB TODAY (the message went on to say, when you ride alone, you ride with Hitler).  The messages seem a bit heavy-handed to our 21st century minds, but the world was at war, and every effort took on more importance.
    That generation was probably one of the most frugal generations the world has ever seen.  Many who are still alive today have never gotten beyond saving every little bit of everything in case they need it down the road.  Goods weren’t readily available during that day.  They had to make things last and they had to make things do and they had to put things together to make other things they needed but didn’t have—we call that process upcycling today, they called it survival then.  If you have a parent from that generation or you know someone from that generation, most have a strong sense of self-worth.  I think it came from believing their efforts mattered, not just to their own survival but also to a nation at war.
    At the exhibit is a chart explaining what to save and what it could be recycled into:
        30,000 razor blades = one 50 caliber machine gun
        30 lipstick cases = 20 ammunition cartridges
        2300 pairs of nylons = one parachute
        1 pound of fat = 1/3 pound of gunpowder
        2500 tons of tin plus 190,000 tons of steel = 5,000 tanks
Everybody got on board the scrap metal collecting effort.  There were even scrap parades in towns like Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  When I was reading through the list of stuff they had recycled, it struck me as odd that I always considered recycling as my generation’s claim to fame, and here I was reading about people a generation ago who had figured out the benefits of the process.  The WWII generation recycled in order to combat a threat to their lives.  It could be argued that our generation recycles in order to combat a threat to the life of our environment.
    I’ve said before, I’m not a crusader; I’m more of a do-my-part person.  Sydney Smith said, “It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little—do what you can.”  Recycling is “my little.”  I have a big box against my kitchen wall in which I put recyclables.  My family rolls their eyes at me if I dig something out of the trash where they’ve thrown it in order to add it to my box.  I’ve recycled glass bottles and cardboard for a few years now.  When the city of Morgantown recently added the mobile recycle bins you see at different locations throughout town, I got serious about plastics.  It was mind-blowing how much plastic my family uses.  If I hadn’t started saving it, I would never have believed it.
    The last thing you need from me is an assignment, so I’m not going to give you one.  I just want to make you aware of where you can recycle if that’s what you want to do.  The portable bins I mentioned before take plastic (including bottles, jugs & bags), aluminum cans (including Reynolds wrap and aluminum pie pans) and cardboard.  Star Tek in Aberdeen will take scrap metal, aluminum, brass copper and anything that includes these metals.  There is a Southern Recycling bin at Hadley in Warren County that takes glass.  Their bin is even divided into clear, green, and brown glass sections.  They also take plastics and cardboard, as well as newspapers and magazines.  These places are the ones I use.  (There are probably others in the area I’m not aware of.  If there is one you use, please leave the name and address in the comment area below.)  Recycling makes me feel good about me, and I need all of that I can get.