Recycling activities- The Victorians

Save your paper, save your can
Keep it safe for the Rag-and-bone Man

Medicine bottles returned and washed...

Very different from today-
We have so much that we throw away!

The Victorian era provides some superb examples of reuse, recycling and minimal wastage.
There are two activities outlined on this page.

Jobs- reuse and recycling the Victorian way!
This activity looks at jobs and at the way that Mud Larks and Tea Hawkers, for example made a living. There are two resources that can be used;

The Victorian shopping basket
This activity is quite hands-on and looks at products, packaging, reuse and recycling. The activity is designed to highlight the differences in materials used for packaging and identify one material (plastic) that was not used during the Victorian era.

You will need a big basket of container full of products. These are all items that are available today. Each product has been carefully selected in that is produced by a company that was established in the Victorian era. The links listed below contain teaching resources for The Victorian shopping basket activity.