---
title: Don't waste anything
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dont-waste-anything-1941/
description: 'Industry-sponsored scrap-conservation poster: a locomotive in front of a large red V on a blue field, with five bulleted commands (conserve, convert.'
section: Collection
---

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3. Don't waste anything

[![Don't waste anything, 1941 US poster: Industry-sponsored scrap-conservation poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/dont-waste-anything-1941.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/dont-waste-anything-1941.jpg)

# Don't waste anything

Industry-sponsored scrap-conservation poster: a locomotive in front of a large red V on a blue field, with five bulleted commands (conserve, convert, use it up, make it do, save the pieces). The text says railroads are the nation's chief source of scrap metal. The techniques are transfer (the V symbol and flag colours) and card-stacking (the railroads' own contribution is presented without figures).

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/) [Card stacking](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/card-stacking/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
DON'T WASTE
anything
★ CONSERVE
★ CONVERT
★ USE IT UP
★ MAKE IT DO
★ SAVE THE PIECES
SCRAP METAL TODAY IS PRECIOUS METAL
America's fighting forces need it for ships, tanks, guns.
The railroads . . . the nation's chief source of "scrap"
metal . . . scientifically salvage this essential war material.
★ ★ ★ ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN RAILROADS ★ ★ ★
```

[← Don't transfer now! Stick to your job](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dont-transfer-now-stick-to-your-job-1941/) [Drill with a will →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/drill-with-a-will-1941/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/abydos-king-list-ramesses-ii-temple-british-museum/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer)
- [Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer, Testimonial)
- [Glazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ishtar-gate-panel-striding-lion-nebuchadnezzar-ii-604bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Limestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at Herakleopolis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jubilee-relief-ramesses-ii-herakleopolis-met-05-4-256/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Line drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kadesh-relief-ramesseum-breasted-drawing-1275bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer). Content note: A drawing of an Egyptian royal battle relief showing Hittite soldiers and horses killed and drowned, as the king's monument presented the battle; it is a one-sided image made by the winning side's own account.
- [Gypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nimrud-slab-ashurnasirpal-ii-inscription-883bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Egyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/xerxes-jar-four-languages-486bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Transfer)