Pull Tab Art & Upcycling

Upcycling is a component of sustainability in which the use of waste materials to provide new products. It is generally a reinvestment in the environment. This process allows for the reduction of waste and use of virgin materials.

"Upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value."

The term upcycling was coined by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, authors of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.

History and Evolution

The pull tab was invented in 1959 by a tool maker from Ohio called Ermal Fraze. Legend says he found himself at a picnic, with his beer and no can opener, or churchkey, to open the beer cans.

Since then, the tab has come a long way. By 1965, three quarters of all breweries in the US were using them.

But for all their convenience, the pull tabs were an environmental nightmare. For 10 years people opened cans, ripped off the pull-tabs and threw them to the side because they were encouraged to - there was nothing else to do with these removable metal pieces. Pets and wildlife died from ingesting them, as did a few people who dropped them into a can and accidentally choked on them. They wound up everywhere - from beaches and parks, to playgrounds and garbage disposals. People routinely cut themselves in a time when hand sanitizer wasn't in everyone's pockets.

In 1975, the stay-on tab was invented and now it takes a little more work to take them off.

The WWWW (Wonderful World Wide Web) is full of beautiful work, upcycling the pull tabs. Here are just a few...