Pop can tab donation

A few years ago, a friend of ours asked us to collect the tabs off of our pop cans. A friend of his had a son who was collecting them for a school contest. We have since been collecting the tabs with no idea what to do with them. Recently I was talking to someone about this and they mentioned checking with the local hospital. I Googled "pop can tab hospital" and was able to find my local children's hospital was collecting them to help patients on dialysis.

I ran across a Snopes.com article basically saying, it's a myth that some places are turning into a truth; however, if you want to make a donation, why don't you just give them the money rather than the tabs? Now, I would have to agree with said statement. But if you look at it in another fashion, it can be used as a learning tool as how the boy's school was trying to do. It made everyone aware of the little things we can do everyday to remind us that someone out there needs some help. Some people can't open up a checkbook and donate, be it for one reason or another. Since we all are recycling our aluminum cans, why not put a small piggy bank, cookie jar, tissue box, shoebox, whatever, next to the recycle bin and pop those tabs off. I would say first, check with your local hospital to see if they have such a collection. If they do, great!

Now, here comes the lesson on removing pop tabs easily... Please be warned, you will be putting your fingers close/in the opening of the can so getting cut is possible. If done correctly, you will not be injured.

1. With the can empty, turn the tab to be covering the opening of the can.
2. Using gentle pressure, use your thumb to press down the tab towards the hole while grasping back part of the tab with your index finger of the same hand.
3. When it pops off, you will already have your thumb and index finger holding the tab, so the next thing to do is put it in your container.

Enjoy your pop!

Don't get me started on pop, soda, drink, coke... I'll save that for another blog some day...