In Milton on the Sunday of "The Settler's Fair" 1998 -
Oct. 4 - a group of people made the world's largest sheet of
handmade recycled paper. The paper was 1.7m x 0.8m in size, about
the size of a dining room table. We had a screen (or mould, to use
the papermaking term) made from some old materials - a galvanised
iron pipe frame with scrap mesh welded and sewn onto it and scrap
wood for the lid or deckle that goes on and around the topside of
the mould.
We set up a round mini swimming pool in the Milton Cultural
Centre's courtyard and added litres and litres of water then
litres and litres of waste paper pulp that had been beaten by a
kitchen blender and a 1950's electric washing machine.The waste
paper came from Deering Street Printers, local businesses and the
how-to-vote leaflets from Milton's Polling Centre for the Federal
election held on Oct 3. Children added leaves and petals to the
pulp.
About 8 of us got into the "vat" cum swimming pool - Pam Gray
co-ordinated the event and Michelle Dunn, Janie Murray, Mitzie
McKenzie-King and Christopher, there were other children who'd
come to help. We put all the materials together and stirred the
pulp with our feet and our hands.Then we all took hold of the
mould with the deckle on top and submerged them into the vat of
pulp where we were standing.. When we pulled up the mould and
deckle with the first sheet of paper on it we weren't happy
because it was patchy and uneven.
Our second attempt was fantastic - the pulp was even and it was
just the thickness we wanted. We drained all the water off, had
lots of photos taken, took the deckle off and then left the mould
with the wet paper on it leaning up against the Milton mural on
the Chemist's wall to dry in the sun.
Two Shoalhaven councillors, Pam Arnold and Pat Mason witnessed
and authenticated the attempt and the photos on this web site and
in the local newspaper add to the validity of the world's largest
sheet of handmade paper.
Now ..... here's some info about
paper, recycling.
Paper is a mass of millions and millions of fibres. Fibres are
thin, almost-hair-like bits of plants. When beaten with water they
mesh together to make what we call paper. Just as a tree or plant
can support itself and is strong, so too paper, made from the
fibres of trees and plants are strong just by themselves. Paper is
considered to be the seventh Wonder of the World.
History.
Paper making began in China in 104 AD (ie about 1,896 years
ago) using bamboo for pulp and for the screen you have to use.
Paper was also made in Egypt using the plant papyrus. Egyptians
slice the triangular papyrus stems very thinly and then they lay
them down by slightly overlapping each strip and then hammering
the strips until they mesh together. The Chinese made paper by
beating up piecesof bamboo after they'd been soaking in water +
wood ash for a long time and then they sieved the beaten pulp with
a flat screen or sieve.
Until less than 200 years ago all paper was made by hand using
easily-cropped plants like bamboo, Nepalese daphne, water
hyacinth, hibiscus etc. Then a Frenchman realised that wasps' nest
were just like paper. He saw that the wasps gnawed into tree
trunks and chewed up the inside bit of the tree to make a pulp
just like for paper making.
Because the printing press had been invented and developed
there was a need for lots more paper. Even using all the old rags
and old ropes (made from hemp fibre) to make paper there wasn't
enough so the Frenchman's discovery lead to the cutting down of
masses of trees just to make paper.
This discovery happened during the industrial revolution so
making pulp from trees became mechanised and before long, the
chopping down of trees became the bulldozing of forests. Of
course, because there seemed to be so many trees there seemed to
be an unlimited possibility to keep making paper from trees. And
the more paper there was the cheaper it became and the more it was
"needed" by printers and publishers.
All the paper makers went out of business and even now there
are only about 6 papermills in the world where paper is made by
hand. None of them are in Australia. One, in England, at Wookey
Hole, is now part of Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.
What's happening now.
There is a new interest in making paper by hand; partly it's an
interest in history and the old ways of doing things, partly it's
an interest in art and the work of artisans and it's partly due to
renewed common sense particularly about re-using things and
recycling.
Recycling.
We recycle things because it makes sense - common sense. There
is no need to throw things away (anyway, there's no 'away'). Most
things we and use can be re-used, repaired and eventually
recycled. Paper can be recycled many times but first it's
important to re-use it. Re-use the other side of photocopies that
don't turn out right. Keep a pile of scrap paper for notes,
messages, drafts, children's drawings, etc. Open envelopes
carefully so that you can re-use them by either crossing out the
address on it or covering it up. We might not need to buy
envelopes for years if we do that. Envelopes require alot of paper
and energy to make so it's definitley worth re-using them. You can
fold a letter so that the other side becomes the envelope - all
you have to do is put a stamp on it.
Making recycled paper ( industrially or by hand) requires using
far less energy and water than using trees to make paper.
How to make recycled paper by hand.
Recycling paper is very easy. Firstly it's easy to find 'waste'
paper - printers have "off-cuts", offices have waste paper and
most of us have newspapers and advertising leaflets that we don't
want. To make pulp from this waste paper all you have to do is
soak the waste paper in water for a day or two and then tear it up
and beat it with an egg beater or a blender. This is usually
called 'pulp' - a mixture of paper and water. Then you add the
pulp to a tub of water and seive it with a screen (a wooden frame
that's the size of the paper you want to make with wire stretched
very, very tightly across it). What you end up with on the screen
is a very wet sheet of paper. You let it drain for a minute or two
and then transfer it to a wet cloth by turning the screen over
onto the cloth.Then, just cover that wet paper with another cloth
and scoop up some more pulp.
You make a stack of wet papers with cloths in between and then
all you have to do is to get more of the water out by sqeezing the
stack between two bits of board with clamps around them. Then you
dry the paper by spreading them out on the cloths or transferring
them onto smoothe surfaces such as doors and windows. Once the
paper is dry you peel it off the cloth or the smooth surface and
its's ready to use for writng, drawing or painting, unless it's
crinkled and you can just press it again.
MILTON'S
SETTLERS FAIR
MUM's
MILTON ULLADULLA HISTORY SITE