# Pop Top Legend Rears Ugly Head **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 1999, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918 "1999-03-23T04:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/41 "2011-05-11T03:14:11Z")
I think this sets a record for the oldest zombie. At least it isn’t so old it’s talking about the sharp-edged pull-off tabs that were on cans back in my parents’ youths. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/42 "2011-05-11T03:58:02Z")
Given that this thread is so old that the names have disappeared out of the database, perhaps it should be closed and the discussion moved to a new thread? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/43 "2011-05-11T04:12:22Z")
Imagine the internet in another twenty years. Someone is going to have to hire a maid just to spruce up a little. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/44 "2011-05-11T04:58:45Z")
…or a newscaster to read our awesome posts from the 00’s live on the air! ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/45 "2011-05-11T05:10:13Z")
> [@YoSaffBridge](#): > > Why not recycle the whole can, and donate the proceeds to the Ronald McDonald house? Surely you’d get more money for the whole can than just the top. While the zombie reviver gave us a link, [here’s the actual page on pop tab collections and why they prefer it that way.](http://rmhc.org/how-you-can-help/pop-tab-collections/) If you were so inclined to just send stuff instead of money from your own labor doing recycling yourself. So much for urban legends. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/46 "2011-05-11T07:01:33Z")
As per the quote in post 30, the reason RMcD accepts tabs in the US is one of marketing: since accepting the tabs makes customers feel good about themselves and isn’t a huge hassle for McD, they’ll do it. They don’t obtain a direct economic benefit, but an indirect one by allowing people to _cough_ contribute _cough_ in a way that makes those people feel good and therefore associate “McD” with “feeling good”. If having a box for used batteries made customers feel good, McD would have a box for used batteries. In countries where the UL never took root, McD doesn’t collect tabs. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/47 "2011-05-11T07:19:15Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > In countries where the UL never took root, McD doesn’t collect tabs. They don’t collect tabs here, though McD’s are happy to take donations to the local Ronald McDonald House (which we do have here). They’ll take small change and bills, through drop-boxes in every McDonald’s. I’ve never seen a receptacle for pop-can tabs here, in McDonald’s or otherwise. Yet, people who haven’t yet read the [Snopes article](http://www.snopes.com/business/redeem/pulltabs.asp) seem to think that pop tabs are something valuable. They’re not. You are better off redeeming the entire can for its deposit value, then donating your redemption to whatever charity you think deserves it: Ronald McDonald House, the Humane Society, a local children’s hospital, a church or synagogue or mosque, whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/48 "2011-05-11T11:09:34Z")
> [@YoSaffBridge](#): > > Why not recycle the whole can, and donate the proceeds to the Ronald McDonald house? Surely you’d get more money for the whole can than just the top. Of course it would, but the McDonalds campaign is merely capitalizing on the urban legend that Will. Not. Die. There are is certain percentage of the public who believe everything that goes through their inbox, and since we can’t stop them from saving pop-tops, McDonalds figures why not at least give them an outlet that does some good, even if it is not as productive as recycling the whole can. They are going to do it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/49 "2011-05-11T13:21:06Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Of course it would, but the McDonalds campaign is merely capitalizing on the urban legend that Will. Not. Die. > > There are is certain percentage of the public who believe everything that goes through their inbox, and since we can’t stop them from saving pop-tops, McDonalds figures why not at least give them an outlet that does some good, even if it is not as productive as recycling the whole can. They are going to do it anyway. But the reality is it doesn’t do any good at all, other than to sustain the illusion of helping in lieu of actually helping. [According to the article at snopes](http://www.snopes.com/business/redeem/pulltabs.asp), 100 tabs are worth about 3.5 cents. When you factor in the cost of transporting to a recycler, it’s likely a net loss for McDonalds. There are ways that you really can help. Baloney like this re-directs people’s efforts into nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/50 "2011-05-11T13:48:26Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > According to the article at snopes, 100 tabs are worth about 3.5 cents. . So, if I can break a tab off every three seconds I can earn a whopping 42 cents an hour. If I am really working fast I might even break the one dollar an hour barrier. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/51 "2011-05-11T14:24:11Z")
[QUOTE=;43642] I had a friend ask me to remove the tabs from my empty beer can for dialysis time. I told her that was an urban legend. [QUOTE] This is less of a zombie thread and more of a ghost thread - the forms of the posters have decayed so much that they can’t even be quoted properly. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/52 "2011-05-11T15:43:41Z")
> [@This\_is\_Reality](#): > > …for a sick child every little bit helps But you are missing the point. “Every little bit” is fine, but when there are more efficient uses of time, then McDonalds should encourage the better way. Instead of wasting 20 minutes tearing off pop tops for 20 cents to help a child, then use that 20 minutes to stomp aluminum cans and drop those off at the recycling center the next time you drive by. Write a check for that amount to Ronald McDonald House. Work for its own sake is not productive. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/53 "2011-05-11T15:59:30Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > But you are missing the point. “Every little bit” is fine, but when there are more efficient uses of time, then McDonalds should encourage the better way. Instead of wasting 20 minutes tearing off pop tops for 20 cents to help a child, then use that 20 minutes to stomp aluminum cans and drop those off at the recycling center the next time you drive by. Write a check for that amount to Ronald McDonald House. > > Work for its own sake is not productive. The work is going to occur whether McDonalds encourages it or not. They are just turning it into a productive outlet, however small. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/54 "2011-05-11T18:32:07Z")
> [@anson2995](#): > > 100 tabs are worth about 3.5 cents. **This\_is\_reality** , do you want to revise your argument of “ignorance” in light of this statistic? Specifically, it means that nearly a quarter of a million tops would have to have been wrested off a quarter of a million cans to make up that $8000 you said was raised for one McDonald’s House. I also don’t take issue with your claim that they’re convenient to collect, because, you know, _they’re riveted onto the cans!_ ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/55 "2011-05-11T20:23:43Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > **This\_is\_reality** , do you want to revise your argument of “ignorance” in light of this statistic? Specifically, it means that nearly a quarter of a million tops would have to have been wrested off a quarter of a million cans to make up that $8000 you said was raised for one McDonald’s House. I also don’t take issue with your claim that they’re convenient to collect, because, you know, _they’re riveted onto the cans!_ No, they are not rivetted on the cans; they have been removed by idiots who believe their email. Which a better use for 250,000 pop-tops: $8,000 for RMH, or taking up space in the landfill? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/56 "2011-05-11T20:25:28Z")
A friend of mine manages a small wildlife sanctuary and nature center. For as long as I’ve known him (over 15 years), his nature center has collected pull-tabs. Given some of the info provided here, I do wonder how much they’ve actually made from that. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/57 "2011-05-11T20:43:04Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > No, they are not rivetted on the cans; they have been removed by idiots who believe their email. Which a better use for 250,000 pop-tops: $8,000 for RMH, or taking up space in the landfill? Can (heh) anyone with access to a soda can and better math skills figure out the volume of 250,000 pop-tops? A 50-gallon drum? A semi-truck? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/58 "2011-05-11T21:16:33Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Can (heh) anyone with access to a soda can and better math skills figure out the volume of 250,000 pop-tops? A 50-gallon drum? A semi-truck? Stand back people, rough math in progress. I measured a pop-tab I had, it was approximately 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm x .1 cm. To make things simple, I ignored the rounded edges and just considered it as a cube .375 cubic cm. With [onlineconversion.com](http://onlineconversion.com) .375 cm^3 x 250000 = 93750 cm^3 = about 3 cubic feet = about 24 gallons, assuming everything is perfectly packed. I remember back in middle school and in high school with had gallons jugs for pop tabs. We had soda/juice machines, so it wasn’t any extra work, just throw your tab in the container. We filled up about 2 containers a year (and we weren’t that big of a school). Consider a whole bunch of schools doing that and it can raise a whole bunch of money for doing “nothing.” Now someone please come along and show how wrong my math was. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/59 "2011-05-11T23:36:55Z")
I don’t doubt the math, but something doesn’t seem right. Let’s pack them light to make it around a barrel. Would someone pay $8000 for a barrel of pop-tops? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918/60 "2011-05-11T23:52:55Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I don’t doubt the math, but something doesn’t seem right. Let’s pack them light to make it around a barrel. Would someone pay $8000 for a barrel of pop-tops? What’s the recycling value of three cubic feet of aluminum? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pop-top-legend-rears-ugly-head/1918.md?page=4)