Investigative Report – Pop Can Tabs and Wheelchairs

Yesterday I was looking at the recycling bin at work and noticed a Tim Horton’s cup which was there to collect pop can tabs.

I thought back to the concept of collecting pop can tabs. The aluminum from the tabs are used to make wheelchairs for the needy. So you need a lot of them. A LOT OF THEM.

Then I put my critical thinking cap on and thought about it. If the pop can tab can be used for the wheelchair, then why can’t the entire can be used for it? It’s all aluminum. Who collects these pop cans tabs? Who creates these wheelchairs from this aluminum?

I pondered this and remembered to research it (thanks to my handy dandy mental note reminder – the voice recorder). Here’s the scoop and it’s an interesting story.

The collection of pop can tabs which are transformed into a wheelchair is as mythical as the concept of alchemy – turning metal into gold. It’s an urban legend within North America (if not the world? Unsure.) It just wasn’t real.

This is what Ray Pearse and Jack Baumber of Elora, Ontario found out. They are members of the Royal Canadian Legion and heard about this rumour back in 1990 and began to collect pop tabs only to find out that there was no truth to the legend. So he sought to change put some truth into the legend.

Nowadays, he sells the pop tabs to Alcan. Here’s a quote (courtesy of an Ottawa Sun article here)

“I called Alcan here in Guelph and asked if I could bring in some aluminum tabs. The fellow told me no, not unless I had over a hundred pounds. I told him, `I got about a ton.’ So, he told me to come right down. We weighed it and it was 1930 pounds. I got about 47 cents a pound.'”

In 2002, this article indicates that “in the past four years they’ve collected enough aluminum from pull tabs to purchase wheelchairs for 24 people.”

Also, look at this stat from 1992. “Here’s the most amazing fact. Ray has collected about 80 million tabs over the past three years, and it’s getting bigger as more people find out about it. He tells us, “What used to take a year to collect now takes a month.”

That was fifteen years ago! I wonder what they are doing now?

So there you have it. The pop can tab legend. It’s a feel-good story. I’m proud of these gentlemen.

You can definitely find more on the subject on the Internet if you want to read about this fascinating tale.

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