For about a year now, I've been collecting soda can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. http://www.ronaldmcdonaldhousehouston.org/home.htm For those of you who do not know what the Ronald McDonald House is, it is a home away from home for families of children with serious illnesses who are undergoing treatment at nearby medical facilities. Now I know you will say, "Wouldn't they make more money collecting the cans?" Yes, I'm sure they would, but the point of this is not just to help raise money for the Ronald McDonald House. This project also teaches others to be "greener" and to recycle.
How do the pull tabs help the Ronald McDonald House?
Unlike the urban legend states, pull tabs DO NOT support medical treatment of any kind including chemotherapy or dialysis; however, pull tabs DO support the operations of the Ronald McDonald House of Houston. This includes purchasing food for the family food pantry, cleaning supplies, and providing van transportation for the families to and from the Texas Medical Center.
Although a simple pull tab may appear to be insignificant, it is in fact the most valuable part of the can. Unlike the rest of the can, the tab is pure aluminum and therefore generates the most money from recycling
Although a simple pull tab may appear to be insignificant, it is in fact the most valuable part of the can. Unlike the rest of the can, the tab is pure aluminum and therefore generates the most money from recycling
Some people don't recycle the whole can because it is messy, sticky, attracts bugs, and so on. When you ask others to recycle the tabs, everyone pitches in. At the beginning of my school year, I brought the little "tab houses" to school and distributed them around the school. My kindergarten class, along with the 1st and 2nd graders, have been faithful in collecting tabs and depositing them in our box. Over the year, we filled 1 and 1/2 boxes. I didn't count them all, but i did count the one full box. Holy Moly, 700 tabs. That's alot of soda!!! I'm going to hope that these tabs came from juice cans, but the reality is that they most likely came from soda. I actually thought that we'd collected alot of tabs, however, once i went to the website, I saw pictures of others who REALLY collected alot of tabs. See for yourself:
So to all of you who have donated their tabs to the cause, thank you very much! Keep them coming...
