I tried looking this up on Google, but all I can get as an answer is maybe.
HR just announced at my workplace that we should save the pop tops from our soda cans to give to a co-worker who is collecting them for some charity drive. I seem to remember warnings from years ago that this is a hoax. Something about teaching children about philanthropy or something.
What’s the scoop? I wanted to object to this as being fraudulent, but I don’t have enough evidence. I don’t wanna hafta bother with this nonsense if it is all a hoax. I got enough little chores, thank you very much.
It’s not a hoax or a scam, per se, but there’s nothing magical about them, either. Pull tabs are only worth as much, by weight, as any other aluminum that gets brought in for recycling, and even a huge bag of them isn’t going to net very much money for that charity.
I’m skeptical as well, though there is someone I see on out-of-town assignments who has us save them for his work with the Shriners hospitals. Seems like it would be better to save the whole cans or just ask people for their spare change.
It takes approximately 1,128 pop tabs to equal one pound. We typically receive between $0.40 to $0.50 per pound of pop tabs.
So estimate how much time it would take to collect 1,128 tabs (taking the tabs off, sorting, going to the collection point): say a couple hours? So this is 20 to 25 cents per hour for your time! And most of us have read those articles about people in the poorest countries living on less than $2/day…
Here is a Snopes article about it. TL;DR, it started with the false urban legend that pull tabs could be redeemed for time on a dialysis machine. Later, Ronald McDonald house decided to capitalize on the fact that this urban legend wouldn’t die, and started accepting pull tab donations. But they’re worth very little, and almost any other type of collection for charity, such as the whole can, or cash, would be better.
I recall reading that the tops of cans (including the pull tab) are made with a higher grade of aluminum vs. the rest of the can, and hence the material is worth more.
Even then, I can’t imagine it would be worth the effort.
Tell HR that whatever $ amount they pull in from collecting these pop tops that you’d generously like to match it.
I’d say spending $1.25 to improve your image at work is money well spent.
It isn’t so much a scam as it is therapeutic-people get involved and some actually help out for real. it is like when students wipe down the tables at school. They think they are helping out, but what is actually happening is that they are feeling more self-assured (I still have to wipe down everything after they leave.)
The problem with the pull-tab “charity” is that too many people think they have done something useful, when they could be contributing something a bit more substantial. Who is getting ripped off? The company workers that have to smile and say “Good job!”, then waste their time turning the damn things in for less money then those workers get per hour.