What to Do With Your Old Soda Cans
Don't let your aluminum cans go to waste
What can you do with your used soda cans? pop cans? beer cans? What are your choices? Think your have two options: trash it or recycle it? I assure you, there are many more options than that. People worldwide are using aluminum cans in creative and amazing ways. Find out how to release the potential that lies within a used soda can.
Reduce, reuse, and recycle. With aluminum cans too RECYCLE is too often limited to cans with a deposit, and REUSE is forgotten altogether.
Make a Christmas Tree - Mountain Dew Christmas Tree
Mountain Dew with its green and red colors, are perfect for a Christmas Tree. Check out this amazing Mountain Dew Tree, which has its own myspace page. Standing at six feet tall, it is comprised of about 400 Mountain Dew Cans, and one 2 liter bottle.
Run Your Car on Hydrogen
Okay, so not really practical, and not a project for the average person. But, hey, if you are the science experiment type, then give it a whirl.
- Run Your Car on Hydrogen from Aluminum Soda Cans and Lye
James Burgett of computer recycling fame shows me his test setup at ACCRC for running his Lincoln on aluminum soda cans. They threw this rig together quickly to test the concept. The concept works.
What do you do?
What do you do with your soda cans?
Make a Suit of Chainmail Armor
Using a couple hundred soda can tabs and some wire, you can make for yourself a custom fit suit of chainmail.
This will be perfect for the next Renaissance Festival, or any a role-paying event. Make a suit for Halloween!
How To Make a Suit of Chainmail Armor
Thanks to LauraSchofield who brought this one to my attention.
Project Ideas
Aluminum Can Craft Ideas
This site has some of the most amazing aluminum can projects that are within the range of possibility for most crafters. Included in three e-books are step-by-step directions on making hundreds of wreaths, ornaments, centerpieces, floral arrangements, handbags, baskets, wall art, and more.
Several samples projects are provided for free on the site such as Easter Lilies, Fireworks, and Star Ornament, among others.
Aluminous Publishing's Aluminum Can Craft E-books
Recycle aluminum soda beverage cans to wreaths, baskets, Christmas ornaments, wall hangings, pull-tabs purses with full-size patterns, pictures and instructions. Download, recycle and create.
Make a Soda Can Hat - Knit an aluminum can hat
Learn to make your own aluminum can hat from the Tin Can Alley. They have a tutorial for two styles of hats, a bag and a tissue cozy! Apparently there is a long tradition of this handicraft.
Another pattern is available at knit1mag.com
If you are not one to crochet, then you may want to pick up one of these hats:
Aluminum Can Fact:
You can make 20 recycled aluminum cans with the energy it takes to make one new aluminum can from bauxite ore.(Community Recycling, Belington, Washington)
Cover Your House with Aluminum (Can) Siding - A new whole new take on aluminum siding
Architect Richard Van Os Keuls, a resident of Silver Spring, Maryland, has put up new aluminum siding on his house. Well, the siding is new, the aluminum is not. In fact, it's not really "siding", it actually covered in aluminum can shingles...flattened beer and soda cans laid over each other, covering the exterior of his house.
- Van Os Keuls - Innovative building materials from everyday tin cans: eco-artware Recycling Rag Newsl
Richard Van Os Keuls' Soda Can Covered House - Van Os Keuls - Innovative building materials from everyday tin cans: eco-artware Recycling Rag Newsl
Richard Van Os Keuls' Soda Can Covered House - Washington Post Article on Van Os Keuls House
Drinks on the House - When the Root Beer Is Gone, the Can Lives On
Make a Pop Can Stove - A backpacker's handy burner
Build your own stove with just two soda cans and a few common tools. Being lightweight and cheap, this is a great item for backpackers and campers.
Learn more about the stove at this lens: Pepsi Can Stove. Graphics showing the physics of these is available at wikipedia.
Lotus Flower Tealight
- Lotus Tealight made from an Iced Tea Can
From the Craft Chi Blog, Amy Ybarra Murphy gives instructions and a pattern to make a beautiful lotus flower tealight holder out of an Arizona Iced tea can (or any other can).
Other Soda Can Ideas
- Soda Can Mini Golf - remove the lid from a soda can, and cut a few 1/2 inch lines vertically going around the top, fold them back (so it is not sharp). Next go out in the back yard and dig holes to fit the cans. You have a mini golf course ready to play!
Other Pop Can Ideas
Make a Shark
- Tesscar Aluminum Craft -- Recycle your favorite beverage can into a work of art!
Recycle aluminum cans into this adorable shark. Free instructions available.
Incentive?
Despite the fact that the deposit system used in some states includes only carbonated drinks, and therefore excludes canned lemonade, iced tea, bottled water, etc., do you think that the system of paying a deposit is appropriate.
Is a nickel deposit the right incentive to get people to recycle?
Pop Top Purse or Belt
Novica connects artists worldwide this shoppers equally as worldwide on eBay. Through Novica, Neide Ambrosio has the outlet to sell these amazing and hot handbags made with soda pop tops. Amazing!
Aluminum Can Fact:
An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now.
A recycled aluminum can be made into a new aluminum can in as little as 60 days, and then be recycled again over and over.
Donate Them
A nickel may not mean very much to you, but it means a lot to some.
Many local boy scout troops collect soda cans for fund raising.
-or-
Donate your aluminum cans to Habitat for Humanity:
Make an Airplane
- Do it yourself: make your own soda can airplane
Aluminum soda cans can be used in crafts; instead of recycling them all, why not use some to make a model? Find out how to make your own airplane with these step-by-step instructions.
Make 'Em Dance
Become a better videographer by directing your very own soda can stop motion animation. Very Sesame Street; very cool.
More Ideas
- Soda Tab Chain - Instructables - DIY
How to build a super-cool chain out of soda tabs. - Recycle Cans into Ashtrays/Votive Holders
Create a simle yet beautiful ashtray, candy dish or votive holder. Another idea would be to make a wax potpourri burner by taking the top off one can and cutting pieces out of the sides (for smoke), then place one of these trays on top to melt a was - Canned Heat: Solar Heater Built With Soda Cans
Some of the highest technology in the world is being brought to bear on the problem of saving energy. - CRAFTS : Natural & Homemade : Soda Can Art
Transform soft drink cans into purses, jewelry and decorator accents with this how-to from B. Original host Michele Beschen. - Recycled Pull Tabs - Ecoist Accessories
handbags - Pop Can Framed Mirror
Build a beautiful framed mirror. - Heat your garage
Create a soda can solar furnace to heat your garage. - Build a car, ship, truck or other vehicle
Recycle aluminum cans of your favorite beer or soda into works of art with TESSCAR ALUMINUM CRAFT construction plans. Build models of aircraft, race cars, trucks, locomotives, farm and construction equipment, ships, motorcycles and insects using temp
Recycle - Recycle Recycle Recycle
If you don't think that any of these projects are for you, or that you simply won't get to them, then the very least you can do is recycle your cans. Whether your state has a deposit system or not, recycling aluminum cans may be more important than you realized.
These are just a few reason why you should recycle your cans:
- The mining, processing, and manufacturing necessary to produce aluminum cans are responsible for large quantities of toxic solid wastes, the widespread destruction of wildlife habitat, and the displacement hundreds of thousands of indigenous people around the world. (Container Recycling Institute, 2002)
- The energy needed to replace all the aluminum cans wasted each year is equivalent to 16 million barrels of oil-enough to keep a million American cars on the road for a year. (Container Recycling Institute, 2001)
- A recycled six-pack of aluminum cans could save enough energy to drive a car five miles. One can equals the amount of energy a can half-full of gasoline would produce. (San Diego County Office of Education 1991. RAYS - Recycle and You Save.)
- Aluminum cans comprise only 1.4% of a ton of garbage by weight, but they account for 14.1% of the greenhouse gas impacts of replacing an average ton of garbage with new products made from virgin materials. (Container Recycling Institute, 2001)
Please let us know what you are up to with your aluminum cans. Do you know any interesting or amazing projects that we haven't yet discovered?
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Guestbook
The Chain mail looks great. I imagine it would be quite light also.
Wow! We used to crush them horizontally so they grabbed our shoes and would dance around in a tap-show manner. :)
Some great ideas, no doubt. But I'm not skilled enough to reuse so I must keep on reducing and recycling.
very good post about reuse of soda cans
This is a great list of ideas!
Great ideas to use the soda cans!
very nice and interesting lens! Great job! Thank you for sharing.
Nice lens
Interesting ideas to use old soda cans. Great lens!
I recycle mine but after reading your lens I may start turning them into cute sharks and airplanes.
Can not find instructions for Lotus Tealight made from an Iced Tea Can when clicking the link from your page.
I do recycle my sofa cans bit I see some great ideas on this lens .
Those are really great ideas, Kab! Such an inspiration. In the Netherland cans are not recycled so you gave me some lovely alternatives. Thank you!
So fascinating! Now I want to go make lots of the stuff you featured here. They are all so clever and beautiful. This Lens is A+++++!!! In California recycling is the law so everyone has to do it.
My grandpa used to make the airplanes out of them. Of course that was before Michigan started their $0.10 per can deposit program. A great lens. Thank you for sharing it.
Very interesting and creative lens!
I always recycle cans - I think we should all do so
Great lens! I have always recycled cans, but now I learned how to reuse soda cans.
Love the siding on the house!
I need a Mithril made from soda can tabs !
I would like to make an airplane I saw at a street fair out of recycled cans.
This is one of the coolest lens i think i have seen!
Some amazing ideas. It takes some creative people to come up with these sorts of ideas.
awesome lens, I think that recycling cans is good for the environment
Very interesting. And I just put mine in the recycle bin and miss out on all the fun.
Very useful resource. Thanks!
I would have never known about these other BRILLIANT uses for aluminum cans had I not stopped by here! I am definitely going to try making some of great things with my soda cans.
(Love the airplane and the shark) and the purses...and the armor and...and...so much of it!
Amazing! I never thought I could save used cans and recycle it. Great ideas! Sundae ;-)
nice advise, learn something new from you related to soda cans
very interesting lens learned a lot never even considered all this that you shared thanks for sharing it.
Definitely bookmarking this one. My son would love to make that airplane! Although soda cans will have to do.
Wow! there are a lot of things to do with your soda cans! I find the pop top purse or belt to be really nice. :) Great lens!
I really like the idea of using soda can tabs to make a suit of Armor. Since we rarely drink soda, it would take us forever to collect that many tabs :)
Love this lens! Especially like the aluminum can siding. I'm submitting this as my Quest today for a "green" lens
You've got plenty of great ideas for aluminum cans; my two favorites are the Christmas tree and the shark. I enjoyed this very much!
Recycling is the way to go
Great lens! We recycle cans but some of these ideas are very amazing!
Great lens for ideas on recycling. Love the pop top purse and belts made from soda pop tops.
Wow! Who knew that so much cool stuff could be made out of soda cans!!!
I didn't know you could recycle your cans in so many ways. :)
This is very cool. I have seen the airplanes before, but that's about it.
My old friend Darryl used them as "wallpaper." That is, he lined all his walls, top to bottom and side to side with cans. He was a professional baseball player and most of those cans were beer cans, but it was impressive nonetheless. Wonder what ever happened to him.
Love the lens.
Now that is called a true creativity.
Liked your lens and you are welcome to visit my lens.
Oh my! What an amazing Reuse& Recycle craft lens. Absolutely fabulous!
I'm big into recycling whatever I can and you have some great ideas here that I'll use. Thanks!
How creative! Nice lens.
Great idea!
Lots of good creative ideas here! I liked the aluminum can siding the best.
Very interesting lens!
Very creative ideas. Much more fun than putting them in the recycling.
We don't really any choice here in the UK. Virtually every single item has to be recycled nowadays.
It all gets down to "recycle recycle recycle!"
Genius.. with a little 'can do'...
Interesting lens. Thanks
Amazing ideas for things to do with old soda cans. I have seen belts and handbags before, but I can't believe someone has actually covered their home with them!
I recycle my aluminum cans.
Have to agree with Sam on this one. I haven't touched soda for over a decade and two good things happened. 1: I lost weight and feel great. 2: I don't contribute to the world's mountain of empty soda cans (and feel great)!
Cool ideas, but here's a crazy thought for you...stop drinking soda (it's not healthy)!
Great lens with so many awesome ideas. I've always recycled the cans but I might try some of these artistic ideas. Check out my new lens if you get a chance: http://www.squidoo.com/bottle-less-water-coolers
So many ideas, so little time. I've earmarked the soda can shark as my first project.
Great lens!
Interesting lens
I've always thought about saving my soda cans, but I never drink enough soda per-year to even make a bag full. Water rocks for me!
great lens :)
back in high school, we used to donate the opener of the soda so that they can build wheelchairs for the physically challenged people. thanks for the share! i love the armor idea :D
great lens. Very unique. Blessed
That dragon is gorgeous!
Great lens very well written.
Very good ideas here. I love the chain mail armor and we just went to Texas Renfest - it would have been cool to wear one. Bookmarking this page for inspiration and ideas and showing it to my son.
Great ideas! I recycle mine at the moment, but might need to try something new!
That chain mail armor just blew my mind. Whoa!
At the moment i just recycle them but I'd love to do some sculpting if I had the right tools to do it with.
Some really fun ideas. I think I like the tea light holders best.
interesting read! Thanks for the lens:)
You are some very creative ideas on how to recycle soda cans - thanks.
This post is awesome! Never knew there were so many ways to reuse aluminum cans!
Chainmail armor... I don't even... That's the best idea ever.
That is amazing. I LOVE the purses made out of poptops. I did make an art project with my poptops. I collected poptops for a year and then glued that quantity of poptops (700 or so) to have a visual representation of how much pop I drink per year. It was astounding. It stopped me for a while...but I'm back now..until I quit again.
It is interesting to know there are so many ways to get creative with aluminum cans. I have a soda pop top bag and love it!
very amazing lens, wow so many ways to use the soda cans.
Interesting, who know you could do so many things with soda cans
very interesting
Wow! some interesting stuff!
Your comments and liking my lenses
I don't know that such nice things could be possible with those cans . Thanks for sharing such creative lens keep up the good work
Now I can use my cans in new ways. Thanks for sharing.
I use aluminum cans to make goggles for steampunk costumes. I think I'm going to start collecting pop can tabs so I can make armor for ren faires too!
- Author
@Diana Wenzel: If you shingle the dog house, you've got to send me a photo! :-)
Congrats on your Purple Star! Well-deserved.
Love the creativity displayed here. I often wonder what I could do with all of the aluminum cans that I collect on my daily walks (picking up the litter left behind by others). Right now I recycle them, but you have sure given me lots of more imaginative ideas. I may use some to shingle a dog house that I am currently building.
very interesting ideas!
Many great ideas. thanks for sharing.
Wow you have lots of great use for cans, thanks for sharing.
Holy Cans Man! WOW!
Great ideas!
Wow this is very creative. This len sparkle'd me.
Nice videos.. ;)
Nice videos.. ;)
I love the purses! great lens
I usually just crush and sell them, but these ideas are good too!
awesome ideas !
My brother use to make boats and planes from cans. It was fun to see and read about other exciting things one "can" do.
that shark is really cool!
You have put together such an awesome compilation of information. I love these ideas. The chainmail is fab - I'm sure my daughter will want to make one of those.
I'd try making a Christmas tree from cans but it seems like it'd be the most dangerous tree ever lol
Cool way to reuse cans. I am not a purse girl but they look cool.
Great ideas here, and a great lens too! :)
Great creative tips here.
Golly, its been over a years since I saw this amazing creativity....stopped to do a little dusting...congratulations on being Top 100!
I recently saw a homeless guy selling things like these. It's a pretty good idea really.
AWESOME lens! As a soda lover myself (see my squidoo.com/CokevsPepsi lens!) I can appreciate a good soda can!!!
Cool idea you've come up with.
I love the chainmail!
Some cool ideas. Especially the Chainmail Armor and the shark!
What unique and interesting ideas - I learned something fun and useful, thanks!
Not gonna waste another can again. Thanks for sharing!
Recycling & crafts - two of my favorite things. *blessed
These are great ideas. I love the shingles idea, maybe for my next chicken coup.
never knew so many thing can be done with these little cans
Wow...this is great!
Considering how many I go through in a month, I might try some of these! Thanks for sharing :)
I love this lens!! Great job on it!! Thanks so much for making it!! May God bless!!
Great info and ideas, thanks!
Incredible ideas for soda cans!
Great ideas.
I used some aluminium cans to store pencils, but I've never thought about some uses I saw here. The purses are really amazing!
These are some Awesome ideas thanks for sharing.
a good idea, thank for share a tips.
These are wonderful ideas for soda cans recycling/reusing./ The crafts were beautifully made, some didn't look like they were made from soda cans.
Very creative stuff - and the best part is the environmental responsibility. Thanks for the great lens!
Lol! Never thought I could do something with soda cans. Guess what. It's possible. Interesting Lense :)
Thanks for the great tips
Great advices! I hope that a lot of people will read this lens. *blessed*
Great lens. I think the airplane looks great, if you have the skills to build it.
chain mail armor looks insane!
I love the pop top purses! What wonderful ideas for aluminum cans. Great lens, super neat stuff. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Neat ideas on how to recycle cans. THis stuff is amazing.
Neat ideas on how to recycle cans. THis stuff is amazing.
just fascinating. Outside of recycle or those aluminum can beer hats, I've never seen any of this other stuff.
Very well done lens!
So many interesting ways to reuse your soda cans. I like the siding for the house idea. That would be neat to see. I send mine off to be recycled. It's the law here to recycle, which I love. It's great to know my soda cans won't be sitting around in a trash dump 500 years from now.
I uses to collect those empty cans then pass to an old uncle; I believe he sell and earn little money
Great lens--- very beneficial to recycling.
Wow! Very impressive! I never dreamed you could do so much with a soda can!
I am impressed with so many other ways we could put our empty aluminium cans into good use. Thanks for sharing!
I only send them to recycle so far. This is a nice information, and I will try to do it with you idea.
I wish the kids in my town read this, they throw away empty cans all over the city: park, streets... LOL Great lens and thinking outside the box. Blessings!
Our town has it's own recycling, trash on tuesday, recycling on wed.
Fantastic ideas on reusing old cans. I am surprised at how many people still put them in the bin...
About the poll: there should be no deposit in the sense there should not be any need for it if people were more careful about our planet. But with the current situation, we need a bigger deposit.
In Adelaide Australia we get 10c per can at the Recycling Depot.
Same for PET bottles and all othe soda containers.
It is very, very seldom you can see any of them on the ground.
Travel through South Australia and you can hardly see any cans or bottles in the ditches on the side of the road, n the waterways, or out in the sea.
Everyone thinks is a great idea, and it seems to be working very effectively.
Reminds me of the chainmail I used to make out of copper wire. Nice informative lens. =)
No new projects, but I am wondering how many tabs it would take for a full suit of ChainMail Armour. Let's see, 6' 3" x 200# = A lot. Oh well, interesting thought.
I found the uses made of old cans amazing some people really do have talent!
Terrific! What innovative ideas for those old cans!
Returned to look at your skillful use of the Amazon Side Widget!
Cool creative ideas! I like the airplane! :-)
WOW.. I love arts and crafts, cannot believe the many possibilities one can recreate with their cans! Great lens!
I love this lens. I especially liked the aluminum can siding. Thanks.
If the economy keeps going south this is what were all getting for Chrstmas!
This is such a creative lens, I love it Amazing what we can do with the things we are tempted to throw out. A metaphor for life I am sure...
Innovative and fun to do, it seems. I will save this one to use with the grandkids.
Great job!
What fun ideas to share with my grandkids. I can't wait to give some of these a try. I just got a stop motion iPhone app and have been trying to think of a good project. So maybe... :) Thank you! - And thanks for the sweet squidlike!
Thank you, I will use more of my soda cans.
@kindoak: I used to see machines where you could put in aluminum cans and get money out, but I rarely see them anymore. When I lived in New York, the 2 liter soda bottles could be recycled in a machine at the supermarket and a voucher was printed out to spend while shopping!
Some good ideas for using and recycling aluminum cans! I usually recycle mine.
IN Sweden where I live the vast majority of alu cans get recycled. There are recycle stations at more or less EVERY food store in Sweden. A coke costs equivalent of 1.5 usd pop it into the recycler and we get equivalent 15 cents back.
We have the same system (same machinery) for plastic bottles too. Very easy and environmental-friendly. I don't think a lot of people realize how much energy new aluminum production devours (hint - humongous amounts..)
Love these ideas for recycling aluminum cans! Great job on putting it all together. Blessings! :)
Oooowee, you've covered it all, haven't you? And me with my little collection of soda can flowers on the craft table now...
What a really cool lens. I have to try some of these ideas. Thanks for a great unique and cool lens!
Awesome lens.
Im a person who used to throw the can after using it...but now im thinking of making an airplane, that would be fun.. Thank you my friend...these ideas are awesome..
I'm always amazed at how many people on my street don't recycle in general but I'm sure they recycle cans because of the deposit. Who knows though, maybe they don't even do that.
Great ideas! I will pass this lens along to my daughter, who loves to do projects like the ones posted here. Thank you!
OMG! YOU MAKE THE BEST LENSES EVER!
I'm going to get to work right away! I have tons of them in the garage. Thank you for your creative lens. :)
amazing creativity + environment saving all in one
Very interesting. Thanks for creating this.
who knew an aluminum can can be so many fantastic things?
WoOw Very Creative and awesome creation in the over all stuff
Pain Management
Very nice. i never thought about being creative with trash cans. cool ideas
Great idea, cool lens
A much more interesting lens than I would have guessed! Nice job!
wow, a lot of great idea :) no need to throw those away.
Crocheted beer can hats brought back memories from the seventies. Loved the lens.
cool lens!
Very creative lens ~ I would never have seen the potential in an aluminum can! Very cool!
Wow, I was thinking of a bag or braclet as I have collected lots of pop tabs but didn't think of using it as chainmail, that is so cool, but I may sew it onto a an undershirt for comfort. Very cool ideas that you.
What a cool lens! I just finished a kids crafts lens and was looking for inspiration for another kids crafts related lens. You have some really great ideas!! Thanks for an awesome lens!!! Scott
- Author
@Margaret Schindel: Great Idea!
You can cut them into strips (carefully!) with tin snips or metal shears, bend them into shapes and solder the overlapping ends to make custom cutters for polymer clay.
Great ideas for recycling can sodas.
I always recycle. I think that people should be more environmentally aware.
How cool, I love the tea lights, I may try that one :)
Great ideas. Thanks!
Exclusive idea. Thanks for sharing it.
Really love the pop top purses and belts! Great job on this article!! Kudos on making the upcycling monsterboard!
You have some really great ideas here.
Great ideas. We should reuse or recycle everything. Thanks, great lens.
Very neat! Many uses of soda cans here, thanks!
cool ideas, thanks for sharing
We recycle them, but I may have to try making the soda can armor with my son. How much fun is that?
Great article on something that everyone can do. Thanks!
i just saw a site called cancangang.blogspot.com I think it was where she made adorable characters out of cans. They were really cute.
I'll never look at an old soda can in the same way after reading this lens. Instead, you've got me thinking, what's the best use for it?
Great lens
no I normally give mine to the recycle company
Thanks for the great information. I am going to try.
This will reduce waste and this would enhance the creative side of every person! Such a useful lens :) I'll try it myself :))
These are really great ideas on the use of soda cans.
Awesome!
This lens could help save our mother earth.
The chainmail armor looks really cool lol
This is one of the most creative lens I have yet to come across. Great job!
I didn't think that with used soda cans you can do so much.
We just recycled 20 years worth of aluminum cans that we "inherited" when we bought our farm place last week. We didn't make a lot of money off them, but it was more than I thought we would.
You've got some really neat ideas for ways to creatively reuse old soda cans I especially like the suit of armor.
This is a great lens, I love recycling things and I love to be creative
nice lens
This is a great lens, keep up the good work!
very interesting perspective. A great way to get people interested in using cans in another way than in the trash.
Love the Chainmail Armor!
What great creativity. That wreath looks great.
Cool. I've never seen the pop can stove concept before. I'm excited to try it.
Very creative ideas! Thank you :)
Good Lens. Diet coke addict here and I usually just recycle so I can buy another 12 pack.
Nice lens.
innovative and thoughtful lens -- this kind of thinking is what makes America great!
these are fantastic ideas! I'm into recycling sodas so this lens was really refreshing to read.
I love the bags!
A great fun lens. I should make some jewelry out of soda cans. I am sure it has been done, but it might be fun.
This len really make me feel amaze. Very creative and fun to see all these ideas. I like the armor. Great len and a "like" from me.
Nice job on this lens! Even better is to not buy things in aluminum cans!
Great lens.
amazing lens!thumbs up
Nice lens. Today am exploring top lens. Your lens is interesting and informative.
This was fantastic! Must buy some Coke tomorrow, just to get to try this "can-craft"!
Nice lens.
nice lens. welcome to see my ideas of reusing eggshells.
Great ideas for how to reuse aluminum cans. I especially like the purse ideas!
Pure artform!
Here in Scotland we recycle all our cans, we are supplied with bins to collect them and put them out on collection day
Hi Hello kab nice to see these ideas with cans. I'm not creative as that but I do like to look. Great lens and thank yiu for sharing.
I love the can christmas tree, kool. Great lens, thanks for sharing it with us.
I like the suit of armor made with pop tops. That is cool. I think I might try it someday.
I saw some similia art in Korea made from soda cans. Great quizz.
You can always make artwork out of the cans, or redeem/recycle them if you want.
We have made the model planes out of soda cans for years. Some of the other ideas look cool, will have to try them.
I've seen a lot of these things at craft shows. Nice job of gathering so much.
Awesome lens!
Some good ideas!
great lens!! I found the house to be fascinating, I cannot conceive of stomping that many cans!!
Very Useful & Interesting Ideas to work with. Thanks for sharing.
I love all of the creative ideas you shared in this lens. Really good job. Now if only everyone would pay attention and follow any of these tips, the world would be a better place.
Do you have any tips about reusing plastic bottles?
Wow, these are some wild can ideas!
That chainmail-tab-armor was pretty cool! Too bad I missed it for halloween ; )
Lots of good info. Very nice lens!
Love the lens.
This lens is interesting. LIKE LIKE LIKE IT
Terrific! Had a great time reading this lens! :)
wow, that chain mail is pretty crazy! Looks like it took some time! haha, great lens. We recycle :-)
Enjoyed the can dance...that was clever.
I never would have thought there were so many creative uses for pop tops!
Great Ideas! Excellent Lens.
Boy, do I feel inept! Just goes to show that diversity among our planet's inhabitants is amazing! Who thinks up this stuff? I feel like investing in a NICE pair of tin snips! Now, all I need is talent :) Thanks for sharing this great piece!!!
I have made roses (life sized), Angels, and Christmas Ornaments.
very instuctive
I really enjoyed seeing all the different items you can make with cans...I recycle my cans....usually go three to four times a year....for about $100.00
Interesting ideas and facts here. I enjoyed reading this and learning a few things.
Ok the Aluminum can Siding is a great idea!!! Great lense
Awesome!!
Some states, like here in Ohio, do not have deposits on Aluminum cans. That is fine by me as I have friends who save them for me and I cash them in at the recycling center. Some very interesting ideas for using being crafty with cans.
I wanna make one of those mountain dew trees!
awesome
Wow, the Chainmail Armor is marvelous! But I vote for the belts, next fashion week in Paris..! :-)
Wow, very interesting. I absolutely love it! Great Lens
Pretty cool ideas. Nicely done.
Great ideas, great lens.
These are great ideas! I really like the shark and airplane. :)
Love the ideas!
Great and informative lens.
I love the purses, my mom has a coke can airplane. The shark is really cute too. Just a lot of good recycling ideas here.
Very nice article!!!
that mountain dew tree is nice, but theres a possiblity that one or some of your visitors will think you can't afford a real tree
I've seen some of these before but not in such great detail. I will want to try some.
I love the house covered with beer and soda cans! Great info.
We donate our cans to the Humane Society, they use the can donations to feed the rescued dogs they recover and bring back to health..you can check with the Humane Society in your city to see if they also have this service...:)rwjr
Very creative ideas! Enjoyed the creative things to do with aluminum cans!
What a great lens! I love the airplane. Very creative. Great ideas to do things with cans other than just turn them in for cash. Thanks.
I've never even thought about doing this stuff with cans, this amazes me
great tips. soda cans should be recycled. i love the idea of making an xmas tree using soda cans.
I liked the wreath that you featured.
I take my cans back for 10 cents a can!
I flattened a load of soda cans and covered one wall of my gym room, it now looks colorful and commercial
very cool lens!
A lot of artistic ingenuity here! Just be sure to still recycle the sculpture when you're done with it for good!
Great recycling tips. I know soda cans can still go a long long way after you have consumed the soda. Fantastic lens! Sundae ;-)
This lens is boss. Great ideas.
Great lens. Thanks for sharing.
wonderful creativity..again reading it..great to have you on squidoo!!!
Very creative uses for pop cans. Very informative lens. Thanks.
I love the airplane made out of cans. Cool!
We recycle everything! We aren't as creative though, we just put it in a big container,set it out and a big truck comes and picks it up.
I recycle every thing I can. It's a part of my life!
Those sculptures are really exquisite! Recycling is an art... and almost magic :P
wow...cool craft and art...great lens!!!
I've seen a lot of cool crafts made from soda cans, but I've never seen pocketbooks. Really great lens and so creative!
I have some old aluminum signs that I thought were junk. Turns out they are worth over $100 in scrap metal. It's crazy how metals are so expensive now.
Nice ideas!!! I especially like the lotus flower candles ;)
Here in Denmark, people must pay in advance when they buy plastic bottles, and then they can have their money back when they bring them back to the shop. I really can't understand why they don't do the same with aluminium cans, because I think this is the most effective way to recycle!
Very Useful Lens
Fabulous ideas. I may have to try some of them.
wow, it's so amazing. I just shock by them. But i think whether the pieces of the aluminium cans will be sharp.
great...
Great creative lens!
Great lens. Very creative. I have a soda lens too. http://www.squidoo.com/collectiblesoda
I totally want a soda can shark. :)
old Soda can can be used for improving your WiFi Signals at your home.
Some creative ideas for reusing soda cans. Thanks for sharing.
Very creative idea's for sure!
Great lens! I used to live in Houston not far from the legendary Beer Can House - http://www.beercanhouse.org/ - still a fond memory.
A good idea, can open up new job opportunities
good work
great ideas, i make stuff of all the cans or recycle them properly
Love the shark!
Some interesting ideas here that I never would have thought of. The soda can hats cracked me up.
The "ChainMail Armor" is a cool idea. Reminds of the medieval time. It's a good custom by the way for a custom party or probably during Halloween.
In one state we recycle all our aluminum cans. In another we take them to a redemption center where they pay us 5 cents per can and then the cans go to the recycling center. I wish all states would set up can and bottle deposit systems. More cans would stay out of the landfills. Nicely creative ways for recycling cans here - the can-sided house is fascinating.
Nice1Very creative ideas! keep it up
Loved your ideas, very creative. Blessed! :)
very cool lens love the ideas...rwjr
A well organized website with a lot of interesting things you can make out of cans.
Recycling and reusing are so important! Blessed by a Squid Angel and featured on my Squid Angel Lens!
I love some of the ideas for reusing the cans like that wreath and the siding. So cool!
Wow! Incredible re-uses of aluminum cans. I had no idea! Great lens. Thanks for all the info.
What an astounding lens! never knew you could make all this out of a soda can! great work :)
You can even make a Sterling Engine! Come up with creative ways to turn heat into powering stuff and maybe even something that could change the world of motion or a new energy source!?!? ;)
Thanks for the great post..nice
What a great lens! I usually just save the cans up and at the end of the year take them to a recycling center. I love all the creative ideas. When I was a kid people tossed all sorts of junk on the sidewalks. You could always find cans laying around. But I noticed in, maybe the last decade or so, that you can't find too many aluminum cans lying around. People are picking them up and taking them to the recycling center for the money. Thanks for the lens.
haha..fun!
We always recycle our cans but we pull the pop tops off. Every once in a while there are fundraisers where they get money for each pop top. We have not had any of these fundraisers in our area for a while so we just keep on collecting them.
Wow! I am amazed. Who drinks all that pop? I do good with one can and I never think to save the tops or use the cans for crafts. Thanks for the need ideas.
Oh m goodness, wonderful!
Very nice lens. I would never do anything like that with my cans (crafts). They are worth 10 cents here in Michigan. When I see a can, I see money. I think the deposit system is great and should be used more in other states. We don't have a lot of cans littered on the ground, and if someone does leave one on the ground or in a public trash can it is picked up by homeless people. A lot of organizations here will do bottle and can drives to raise funds as well, and will come door-to-door to pick them up.
Had to visit again. I've started getting cans again and wondered how to use them for good not evil (lol). Your ideas are great. Thanks for sharing. Angel blessings for your part in saving the planet. Bear hugs, Frankie
Really nice lens. Great info. Thanks
What a creative lens! I love the house with the aluminum siding.
Thanks for the valuable information. I didn't know of all the things you can make from soad cans!
nice one :)
Aluminum cans, plastic bottle caps, cardboard scraps and pretty much anything that ends up in the landfills can be used creatively. This is fascinating!
Geez,
I never knew you can do so many things from Aluminium Soda Cans. I am sure others also enjoyed your lens.Thank you for passing onto us this knowledge.
thanks for such a great lens...
really amazing lens..great info
@BlueDunDan: Amazing how useful rubbish can be.
Great work.Amazing creative work from just throw away material.Very nice.
I love the Mountain Dew Christmas tree idea - and the pop top purses are fantastic! Great collection of ideas, here.
I love that lens! I don´t buy cans, but in germany they are very hard to find anyway, because of all the negative aspects. I prefer bottles of glass.
got to try some of those ideas
Like most of the rubbish we throw away, there is usually something that can be done to re-cycle. If you are inventive enough, be great if more people made an effort.
WOW! Nice ideas, recycling is always good!!
Some really good ideas, but I think I'll stick to sending them off to be recycled as I am not the arty type. Nice lens though, keep it up.
Cool lens, 2 thumbs up. Aluminum cans are so useful and a real shame to waste. Way to go! Remember to recycle people!
Interesting ideas! I am interested in the solar furnace. That's a very good use for old pop cans!
Noce lens, if i had any soda cans i'd now have lots of ideas for what to do with them!
Really useful. It is summer now in Canada and pop cans fill up our recycling.
I love all of the ideas. lol Some of them made me laugh. :-P
Such a great lens. I love anything that is encourages re-using, or 'upcycling'. Keep up the wonderful work!
very creative! I especially like the house shingles!
In Canada, pop and beer cans have a 5c deposit on them. In France they don`t so they end up in the recycling bin for me...but many people just trash them or even worst leave them everywhere from streets to forest. In Canada we rarely see cans in the streets or in the wild because people either want their 5c back or they get pickup by poor people trying to make a little side money.
love the info, i've made a poptop bag myself. it's cute and i know i'm recycling
I never did know that you could do this much stuff with cans.
great lens very creative!
This is an excellent lens. Two thumbs Up!
It's great to know there are other uses for pop cans.
very impressive, I like it!
Great ideas for keeping stuff out of the landfill.
This is amazing lens and thanks for your sharing.
That blows my mind some of the stuff you could do with cans I would never have event considered. Very amusing lens
Excellent lens - I especially love the chainmail idea, being a Rennie. :)
cool and protect the environment way for the tin
Very cool ideas!
Great lens! Love the chainmail idea. :)
This is awesome and very inspiring!
awesome!
interesting. Great lens
I normally just recycle, but these ideas are amazing. Thumbs up!
Such an amazing lens with great ideas. Thumbs up!
Excellent lens on reusing/recycling soda cans! Lots of upcycling and craft ideas here. I love those lotus flower tealights and the door wreath -- very pretty!
This is really very useful best out of waste which is of no use.
Although fairly new to recycling everything I can, and not doing as well as I can, every day I feel an increasing awareness of the waste we produce. I come from a fairly clean, green country (NZ) and now live in California, so am only too aware of the waste here. My partner gets peeved with me when I moan at him for throwing as little as an old business card into the normal trash and I remind him that it can be recycled. You have some great ideas here, and the soda can hat is one I can see me trying out, partly as a recycling effort and partly as a possible item to sell??
Funny ideas for aluminum cans, I especially like the Chainmail Armor, great lens!
Love this lens! Very clever ideas!
wow,amazing Lens!!
This is, hands down, the coolest lens I've seen on Squidoo!
Wow, I'm blown away. Those handbags are 'stunning', and they would actually make really unique one of a kind gifts !
Super Lens ... congrats ! 8o)
Excellent idea
very nice lens! very rich in content:)
Ok now I have so many things to do on weekend. I'm going to try some of the ideas you mentioned. thanks
Really creative, but to be honest we avoid aluminum cans in our home as much as we can. We prefer glass bottled bear and sodas. It would make a great educational project in schools and kindergartens though... Great lens!
Okay...this is an amazingly creative lens. I had no idea there were so many creative ideas surrounding cans. Recycle was my only idea until you opened a whole new world. Great lens!
Very cool. Makes me wants to consume 10,000 cans of soda...build up a caffeine high the likes the world has never seen...not sleep for weeks and create soda can art.
Our neighbors turned their cans into a Lexus.. I know.. Good Trick huh? I kept seeing them put the cans in the street and run over them with the car.. then put the flattened cans in garbage bags and put them in the trunk to be taken to the recycling center. One day they came home with a new Lexus.. WOW! Made a believer out of me.. now I save up our cans so we can take them to the recycling center :-) I need a new Lexus too!
Informative and interesting lens! It annoys me that there are still people who are throwing out aluminum cans. -__-
Those are great and fun ideas! Awesome Lens
Hahahaha these are some pretty cool ideas, I think next time, instead of recycling the cans, I might just make something out of them! Thanks for the great Lens! :D
Super lens!! I really miss the nickle deposits, which are mostly available in the Northeast. Can't wait to try tinkering around with some cans myself!
Great ways to recycle. Thanks for sharing!
Wow those are clever ideas not to mention very artistic too. This will certainly encourage people to recycle and make beautiful things out of it.Great Lens!
Great ideas, i like the airplane
Great Ideas, thank you
This lens is cool, love the sculptures and the chain mail.
Nice lens. It's too bad I'm trying to cut back on the Dew!
you gave me some ideas... thanks :)
Some really interesting topics here! Great lens :)
Very cool ideas - thanks!
Love all of the ideas - it almost makes me want to drink soda.
wow great stuff !!!
Wow this is fantastic, my daughter has a re-cycling project ongoing just now, so this is excellent for her. Blessed
Some really interesting ideas. Thanks for posting this one, we always recycle our cans and bottles. Thumbs up for this wonderful lens!
Some very cool things to do with soda cans here:)
Okay, if you have time to cover your entire house in aluminum cans, you have WAY too much time on your hands!!!
Great tips! Gotta try out some of your suggestions :)
Interesting lens. I have one, a little more silly at times, DUMPSTER DIVING FOR FOOD AND PROFIT...ha!
I love that chain mail. I've enjoyed seeing all of these creative ideas.
Great ideas for re-use which is far better than recycling in my mind
Some really good ideas for re-using and recycling aluminium cans.
Oh that little can dance video was just the cleverest thing ever.
Hey great lens... check out mine http://www.squidoo.com/recycling-cans-fun-facts
HAve to try this out
We in MA have to pay a deposit ($.05) so there's never really any cans thrown away or left on the side of the road.
Very clever and informative page on what to do with old soda cans. The metal is the perfect weight for crafting. (Carefully :)) And it's the Green thing to do. Great page!
I really like the chainmail armor idea. Great lens to bring awareness and fun to recycling.
I am a fanatic about recycling aluminum (and plastic), but I simply never knew how many amazingly beautiful artworks using aluminum cans were in existence. Some of these are absolutely incredible, and who would ever have thought (although of course someone did) that you could use aluminum for origami! Fabulous article, kab, and thanks for encouraging others to recycle, reuse, and repurpose those cans. The earth and I both thank you.
Never done any thing more creative than recycle them but your lens has shown me the potential.
So cool...and **angel blessed**!
I can't believe someone covered the outside of their house with aluminum cans. What a great story.
you have taken recycling cans to a whole new level great job!!
@WebIsFun: ya it waz a good thinking recycle!!!!!
I love some of these ideas! The shark is especially cool.
You can also use a ballpint pen or sharp stick to emboss soda cans - if you then fill in the embossed areas with paint or markers it looks like cloisonne or enamel work. There's a tutorial here: http://abigailscraftshowto.com/2010/03/embossed-cl...
Love to recycle -- great ideas!
Wow, these ideas are so creative! I may have to go fish some cans out of my recycle bin to try 'em out. Thanks for sharing!
Hey, great ideas. Good work for the environment!
Reuse Reduce Recycle - Thanks!!
Awesome soda can recycling ideas!
Fun ideas! :)
~ Blessed >*
I don't buy soda cans, hubby buys beer in bottles and it is returned to the beer store for reuse, but these are great ways to reuse the cans, great lens :)
I love the chainmail vest!
Neat stuff here. Squid Angel blessed.
Love it. Very inventive use of cans
There are some great ideas here. I've been toying with the idea of making a soda can heater myself for a couple of months now.
These are really cool ideas. Great lens!
- Author
@anonymous: Patricia, I don't know what you are talking about. When you click on the shark photo, you get a page with written instructions and a photo. Directly under the photo is a link to the .pdf file that has the actual patterns to trace. Maybe try again.
I am quite disappointed to read about the aluminum can shark project that clearly states there are free instructions only to click and discover that the instructions are not free. I sure wish you would not post something that is not true. IT IS VERY UPSETTING!!!
What a fun lens:) I'm gonna show my husband the soda can airplane, he has enough beer cans to build a squadron of planes.
This lens is awesome. I especially enjoyed the Mountain Dew Christmas tree. I'm sure that took a lot of work and creativity, and it came out looking great. What a great way to re-purpose!
I do not have curbside recycling at my home so I am always trying to reuse and repurpose items. I have been using pull tabs, bottle caps, glass jars and paper labels in my art for years. Glad to see I am not the only one! Some amazing items here.
This is a wonderful lens. So informative and motivating. Blessed by an Angel. This lens will be featured on my angel lens: "angel-on-assignment".
Great article! I'm big on recycling the cans because it always turns around and uses them again instead of making waste of them. Great lens, awesome job.
Never knew you could do so much with soda cans! Learn quite a few facts and got a bunch of creative ideas from here :-)
I love the "Suit of Chainmail Armor". Very creative idea. Thumbs up.
Amazing what a creative mind can do. Thumbs up.
awesome lens! thanks for all the information!
great information! thanks
lovely, useful, informative and well presented great lens.
There are some really clever ideas here which pique my artsy fartsy side. May have to give a couple a try.
I really love the tealight holder, I'm going to have a go at this. I also love the chainmail armor, but I think this is best left to someone with more patience than me.
I will need to live hundreds of years to do all these things. Fun and smart !
Some of the stuff listed could be tough to make, but so what if you mess it up. Just get another can and recylcle the one you started with.
Love the armor!!! I saw a bracelet like that.
Hi,
I am all into Recycling, but covering your house with aluminum cans??? Sorry that just say trailer trash without the trailer.
This is great. In a similar vein there is a temple in Thailand that is made completely from old beer bottles.
I don't know what I'd do with it if I made it, but that chain mail has really grabbed my attention! Awesome lens. I've recycled my cans for years. I admit to not recycling everything I could, but I try not to be overly wasteful and cans are very easy to recycle.
Thanks for sharing so many ideas on recycling cans. I either throw it away or let someone else do the recycling.
Nice idea
Enjoyed this so much. The house siding is brilliant. That should be widely used.
The creative imagination of some people is amazing to me. thanks for sharing so many awesome ideas for recycling cans! What a cool page!
You've shown some great ideas for recycling cans. I particularly like the things made from the pop tops. Blessed by an Angel.
What a great lens! I love the sculptures! Inspiring!
Great ideas...I had an uncle that could turn an old pop can into doll furniture...personally, I just recycle them...but you've given me lots of great ideas...my sons did the stove with their cub group.
I used to see "chain mail" vests and tote bags in my mom's old crafting magazines from the 60s and 70s. I wonder how well that would work today. :) Thanks for more ideas for keeping these out of the landfills!
I remember my uncle having a can windmill in his backyard - and also seeing them at campgrounds when growing up ...
Would like to see one of those cool handbags or bodyarmor made with the pull tops - but who could ever save up that many ???
This is great. I love the candle holder idea. I need to try that sometime.
Some of this stuff is actually pretty cool, thanks for the creative lens. I have a lot of cans around and all i thought they were good for was the recycling center.
I am going to build a solar heater using pop cans as tubes. You have a lot of unique ideas here for other projects. Great work.
These are some creative ideas! I usually just recycle my cans, but then I am not that creative.
Very cool lens! I love the soda can dance video. You have a good balance of fact, photos, and ideas in your lens.
I used soda tabs to build two chairs which I donated to the Ronald mcdonald house charity. There's pictures and more info about them on my lens:
www.squidoo.com/Greenlikekermit
Blessed by a SquidAngel :)
I love the aluminum siding idea. Not that I would try it... with my luck the bees and wasps would take over in all those holes. It really makes a person think though... Great lens. Lots of ideas.
I love this! I currently recycle through the cities free curbside recycling program, but I might want to use one of these ideas as well, thank you for the great ideas!
Wow, these are very cool ideas! What a wonderful resource. Those sculptures, Christmas ornaments and the bags are especially beautiful - who knew such things could be made out of soda cans with just a little imagination & ingenuity. *blessed by an angel*
Really cool ideas! Thanks for sharing them. :)
we have a Coke airplane that my dad bought at a fair many years ago...it still hangs in the hallway (dad's been gone for 15 years now)
I see so many other neat ideas here.
I recycle mine for a few extra $$ each month.
Wow! Who'd have thought you could make so many things from soda cans. Fantastic lens.
fantastic lens! love it 5*****
This is really interesting and cool 5 stars
I usually donate empty soda cans because I believe it is the best way that I can help save the environment as well as help those who need it.
Like this lens very much! 5* for you. Hope you could visit my lenses as well. Thanks
some really cool ideas. I really like the alcohol stove from a dr pepper can. 5 star, favorite.
Love it! Congratulations on your well-deserved purple star.
Like it.
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