A scarred land
In Wales slate, copper, lead, silver, zinc, iron, limestone, sandstone and coal has been mined from the countryside for many centuries. Not much of the countryside was left untouched.
Coal Mines
As a result, the old mining industries have left many scars on the land and a lot of waste material. In fact, even today Wales is still dealing with the environmental consequences of these old industries.
How much do you know about Wales’s industrial past? Take our quiz to find out!
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Wales has many areas where industrial sites were settled. Use the interactive map to find out what has happened to these sites.
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What is the ultimate recycled natural resource?
Water always moves in a natural flow. We call this the water cycle (the posh name for it is the hydrological cycle). Water is moved by evaporation, rainfall and rivers from the oceans and back again. As humans we recycle water in our own way.
When we eat food we absorb its water into our bodies. For example, 80 per cent of an apple is water. We absorb this into our bodies and then we release it when we go to the bathroom. So we really cycle water from the plant and animal material we eat.
Some the water that we excrete (the polite word for what we do in the toilet) usually goes through a sewage works and into local rivers.These rivers may be used as water supplies for other people further downstream. The best example of this in the UK is the River Thames in London.
Official figures say that about 12 per cent of water in the taps of the 12 million people in the London area is recycled effluent. During a dry summer this could rise to an amazing 70 per cent!
Going to London soon? Just think, the water in your teacup may have been drunk by many people and even YOU before!
