A History of the Ministry of Information, 1939-46
V. PAPER SALVAGE
Paper is the most regularly collected kind of salvage, though it is not so regularly available in a normal household as food waste. It has many household uses, which compete with its collection as salvage.
It was shown earlier that paper was the commodity most regularly collected. An analysis of articles and notes on Salvage published in the big national and London evening papers indicates that paper was most often mentioned of the six commodities investigated.
Commodities mentioned in newspaper articles and notes on salvage
| % | |
|---|---|
| Paper | 71.0 |
| Metal | 21.7 |
| Rubber | .4 |
| Salvage generally | 6.9 |
| 100.0 |
The position of paper in local compaigns is very similar. Out of all local campaigns noted during the investigation, 44.6% were concerned with paper salvage.
78.8% of all housewives interviewed collected paper regularly. The number of regular collectors, however, varies widely from district to district.
An analysis of comments made by the housewives and officials in the worst areas (i.e. areas where fewer than 60% collected regularly) shows certain common tendencies. The most important factors bearing on the low salvage figure are analysed below and illustrated by typical comments.
The report of the interview with the salvage official said:
“Regular twice-weekly collection of salvage along with household refuse. This is effected by the use of separate containers on the dust cart. This system was generally decried by housewives, who complain of the carelessness and indifference of the dustman, stating that they omit to keep each type of salvage separate.
Separate collections of salvage seem to be few and far between. 500 [Text Missing] have been distributed to the Boys’ Brigade for the collection of waste paper, and school children have been asked to bring paper to school. But the salvage officer states that he has not gained much hold on the public by these methods.
Sacks have been distributed among offices and shops in the town, but no general distribution of sacks has been made to householders. These can be supplied, however, to householders on their applying to the Corporation, though very few applications have been received, despite great publicity given to the idea in the local press.
3 big salvage drives were made in all districts of the town in August 1940, August 1941, and within the last few months. In August 1940, 610 tons of mixed salvage were collected. In August 1941, the figure dropped by 119 tons. Publicity for these campaigns came from several sources. Response to these campaigns was very good at first, but has fallen off considerably since. Our interviewer found there was a tendency on the part of housewives to treat these drives as the only important part of the salvage collection.
The salvage officer complained of general apathy among housewives, and the tendency to expect too much of dustmen and of local authorities.”
The four main points arising are:-
1. Collection of salvage at the same time and in the same van as refuse.
2. Expectation of too much initiative from the housewife.
3. Absence of the distribution of containers to householders.
4. Over-emphasis on special drives rather than a continued campaign.
Collection of salvage together with refuse
The collection of salvage together with refuse has an unfortunate effect on both housewife and dustman. The dustman may mix salvage with refuse if it is easier. Interviewers who made a visit to salvage depot reported how shocked they were by the quantities of salvageable paper and rags which, along with refuse, escaped the picking belt and were carried to the furnace.
The housewife noticing or imagining what appears to be a fault of the dustman feels that it is useless for her to keep her salvage separate from the refuse.
“I never put anything out for the dustmen at all because they just throw it straight on to the rubbish - I’ve seen them. It is no use putting it out for them; the only things I let them take away are the tins.”
“No one collected for five months. I don’t give to the dustmen because they throw everything in together. The result is we used all we could and threw the rest away. There should be dumps about here - Boy Scouts have given up collecting.”
The initiative of the housewife
The salvage officer in the place described thought that the housewife should take the whole initiative in salvaging. Not only should she collect and separate salvage, but she should tell him that she has done so before he comes to collect it; this attitude is dictated by the desire of the salvage officer to keep costs down. This policy seems destined to failure unless it is supported by a special organisation which makes notification very easy for the housewife. Salvage officers forget to take into account the fact that the average housewife is not used to the idea that it is her function to bring authority to action. If she is suddenly expected to do so, she must be helped.
This dependence on the housewife’s initiative leads to a failure to help the housewife where this is possible. An example of this is the failure to distribute salvage containers.
The best town issued a special paper container to every household, and every regular collector had one in use. In the worst town only 23% had special containers; these they had provided for themselves and they included boxes, buckets, paper bags, etc. Comments of a dustman in this town was:-
“The people in the district are so poor that they cannot afford special containers for paper. I feel that if I were supplied with bags the collection would be much easier and greatly increased.”
A housewife said:-
“They give us nothing to dump it in. Paper gets wet if put out, and I don’t always know when the dustman is coming. If something to put it in, people would put it out.”
Two towns were very successful in organising this (86.7% and 92.9% regular paper collectors).
One town issued to every housewife a large white card with a bold red “S” on it and told them to put it in the front-room window when they had salvage to be collected. To this the housewives responded very well.
The other town issued to every housewife a sack and a postcard, this she was told to post when the sack was full. Separate vehicles were kept for waste paper, visiting each district at regular intervals, the dustmen calling at each house from which a postcard was received, collecting the full sack and leaving an empty one, together with a new postcard. The second method seems to have been more successful than the first, because the notifying system was combined with the issue of a container.
“We find they do it very well. We are provided with cards, and when we send them the collectors invariably come the next day.”
The places most successful in paper collection (95.8% regular collectors) did not rely on any notifying system, but introduced an unfailingly punctual collection.
“Wednesday is salvage day for the town; the dustmen only collect salvage on this day and go round from house to house. They are helped by the schoolchildren. There are eleven schools in the town and these were supplied with 124 bags for the collection. Their response was so good that the number of bags had to be doubled.”
And in a village (97.5% regular collectors):-
“Once a month a lorry with three men goes to the village, always on the same day at the same hour. The men go round from house to house and expect to find their salvage at the garden gate. If it is not there the case is reported and immediately taken up here from the office.”
Another example of the effects of placing the responsibility on the housewife is the reliance of salvage officials on voluntary workers.
Voluntary workers
In the cases examined where the whole campaign was based entirely on voluntary workers, it collapsed.
“The W.V.S. hoped to organise a collection monthly, but the early February results were very disappointing.”
“In one rural place the campaign was taken in hand by a young lady; as she is ill we have not heard more.”
Only 1.8% of regular collectors of paper were started off by W.V.S. members.
Against these failures it must be stated that 7.3% of the paper collectors (regular and occasional) started their collection through an appeal by schoolchildren -
“Children worried my life until I started saving. Now, apart from what I give the school-children, I always put a pile of paper out on the day of dust collection.”
“Housewives can use two methods: (a) give the paper to school-children to take to school, where it is collected daily - there are 13,400 schoolchildren, or one to every second house in the city, - and the weekly yield from this source is 100 tons of paper; or (b) they can put their paper beside the refuse bin which is collected once a week. (This is in a town with 70.6% regular collectors).
Salvage officials differ as to the value of voluntary workers. In one of the better areas (81% regular collectors) the official stated:
“The town is divided into five districts for salvage purposes, each having a head salvage officer - often W.V.S. She has sub-officers. Each street has a lady salvage officer. Great assistance is also given by wardens in canvassing and in the actual loading of lorries. The salvage officer and her assistant maintain constant personal contact with the housewives.”
The success of voluntary workers appears in this case to result from their thorough organisation by the salvage official.
The emphasis on special drives
Local campaigns are usually arranged with a two-fold purpose - to make a special drive, and to initiate regular collection. Such campaigns generally seem very successful for special drives; out of the 61% (1869) in our sample who searched their houses specially for paper salvage, nearly one-third were stimulated to do so by a local campaign. There is a danger, however, in such campaigns, particularly if they are not accompanied by an efficient organisation, that good results are achieved which are not kept up later.
Some salvage officers are aware of this problem:-
“Here we have only had general campaigns. There have been no special ones. I insert advertisements in the local paper from time to time. Publicity is always on the collecting vehicles and is varied from time to time. In March 1940 we had an all-round publicity campaign and I spoke at every cinema each night. An appeal was made by the W.V.S. and there was a house-to-house canvass, but I don’t know if it made a great deal of difference to my returns, except in so far as pig food is concerned. My idea is that a campaign must be continuous to have any lasting effect. My salvage has no voluntary workers.”
(Town with 86.5% regular collectors)
17% in the sample say that they started regular collection of paper first through a local campaign. The number of people starting their salvage in this way is higher in towns which have a small number of regular collectors and a bad collecting organisation. 32% of the regular collectors in the worst town were started off by a campaign, whereas this was the case with only 7.2% in the best town.
Differences in regularity of paper salvage in social groups
The table below shows that more in upper income groups (A and B) collect paper regularly, and fewer in these groups never collect paper, than is the case in the lower income groups (C and D).
| Collects paper | A and B | C and D | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | |||
| Regularly | 688 | 90.0 | 1,734 | 75.0 |
| Sometimes | 37 | 4.8 | 178 | 7.7 |
| Never | 39 | 5.1 | 401 | 17.4 |
Similar differences appear when housewives in different social groups are asked whether at any time they had made a special search for paper salvage.
| A and B | C and D | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | |||
| Had made a special search | 542 | 71.0 | 1,327 | 57.4 |
| Had not made a special search | 205 | 26.8 | 956 | 41.3 |
| No answer | 17 | 2.2 | 30 | 1.3 |
Not only do a greater number of A and B housewives regularly collect paper; they also collect on an average more types of paper salvage.
A regular collector in the A and B group collects on an average 5.3 sorts, whereas a collector in the C and D group collects 4.5 sorts.
What is kept for paper salvage by the different classes can be seen from the following table:-
The explanation for these social group differences seems to be a lack of material rather than a lack of interest in salvage among the poorer groups. For instance, fewer letters are received by C and D than by A and B groups:-
| A and B | C and D | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | |||
| Less than 1 letter per week | 191 | 25.0 | 1,209 | 52.3 |
| Up to 2 letter per week | 191 | 25.0 | 577 | 25.0 |
| 2-4 letter per week | 181 | 24.9 | 333 | 14.4 |
| More than 4 letter per week | 190 | 23.7 | 179 | 7.7 |
The same may be said about newspapers. In a recent investigation we found that 32% of the unskilled workers did not take any newspapers; only 9% of the professional and managerial class did not take any.
When asked why they do not put certain items into salvage some people argue that:-
“Newspapers are used in our household for fires and wrapping paper; we have practically no newspapers, nor letters. Magazines have to be kept for shopping; we never get any cigarette cartons but buy cigarettes loose. We never get any wrapping paper now, and I shop with a bag. I havn’t enough letters and envelopes. Envelopes and letters go into the fire - no need for the dustmen to read them. I give magazines to the troops, and have no books. I get no letters, only bills. Envelopes are re-used in my husband’s office.”
The table below shows the frequency of the reasons given for not putting certain items of paper into salvage:-
Newspaper salvage certainly suffers most from fire lighting. Only 14.3% of the housewives do not light their fires with paper - all the others use paper if they have to have a fire.
Another bad habit of wasting paper about which dustmen complain is that of “wrapping up the ashes in paper” before putting them into the dustbin. It was a thing very widely practised before salvage came in, and a number of housewives seem unable to get out of this habit.
The percentage of people who burn their paper in order to get rid of it is small. An exception is made of letters and envelopes. Even if letters are not burned, dustmen complain that:-
“People are so afraid of having their letters read that they tear them up in pieces the size of confetti, and this takes time for the men to pick up when it blows about, and it delays ordinary collection”.
A great percentage use their wrapping paper again for shopping purposes. In all towns where housewives were interviewed numbers of grocers, fishmongers and butchers were also interviewed on the question of whether people bring their own wrapping paper or not. The number who do so differs from shop to shop, but it is safe to say that about half the consumers make an effort to bring their own wrapping paper. The number depends very much on the attitude of the tradesmen, some being very strict, and others rather lax in demanding that their customers should bring paper.
In connection with the question of letters in salvage, two subsidiary questions were asked:- Whether people use half sheets of paper, and whether they have a packet of economy labels at home; we assumed that people who have a packet at home will most probably use them.
Do you usually have a packet of economy labels at home?
| No. of letters written per week | Yes | No. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | |
| Less than 1 | 182 | 13.8 | 1138 | 86.2 |
| Up to 2 | 160 | 21.3 | 592 | 78.7 |
| 2-4 | 145 | 28.7 | 359 | 71.3 |
| More than 4 | 166 | 45.7 | 197 | 54.3 |
Do you use half sheets of paper?
| No. of letters written per week | Yes | No | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | |
| Less than 1 | 932 | 80.0 | 234 | 20.0 |
| Up to 2 | 673 | 89.3 | 81 | 10.7 |
| 2-4 | 456 | 90.1 | 50 | 9.9 |
| More than 4 | 334 | 93.0 | 25 | 7.0 |
It will be seen that the more letters are written, the more economy labels and half sheets of paper are used.
Non-collectors
14.3% of the housewives in the sample never collect paper. Half of those who give reasons for this attitude maintain that they have no paper left over; a third state that they need the paper they have for lighting fires; a small percentage ascribe their lack of salvaging to the lack of collection and containers.
Such housewives comment as follows:
“None to spare, must keep a bit”. “Use or share newspaper, have very little”. "Because I’ve never had a dustbin since I have been here”, “Men don’t collect it”. “Don’t get enough to have any to spare”. “Never seen or heard from anyone”.
“Didn’t really know there was a collection. Will look out for the salvage man if it is any help”.
“I don’t hear much about it because we have no paper and no wireless”.