National Tin Can Day

How to Celebrate National Tin Can Day

Share with Others

Learn and share the history of the tin can by telling people all about it!

Talk about the tin can on social media and explore how canning food became an influential part of the industrial revolution for first-world countries.

Make Use of Canned Foods

Try your hand at making a meal using only canned foods and get creative with tonight’s dinner.

Instead of using frozen foods, choose canned corn and add a can of black beans to it. A can of chopped tomatoes, drained, along with some spices will turn it into a tasty little salsa!

Get Creative with Tin Cans

You can also try do it yourself crafts and see what you can create with tin cans. Connect two cans with a string to build a makeshift “telephone.”

Make an alternative form of bowling by stacking up the cans and rolling a ball at them to knock them down. Use cans to grow plants or hang them from string to create wind chimes. The options are almost endless!

Recycle Tin Cans

Make the world a better place and do your part to save the earth during National Tin Can Day. A good start is to collect all the tin cans you can find and take them to the recycling center.

History of National Tin Can Day

Tin cans were invented as a solution for hunger in combat. The French Directory, serving the years when Napolean’s army fought battles in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and the Carribean, offered a 12,000 franc prize for a breakthrough in the preservation of food.

Nicholas Appert, a Paris resident and chef saw this opportunity and took it. Working for French nobility, he studied different methods of food preservation until he presented his creation to the Directory.

Champagne bottle preserved with cheese and lime was the idea he created built on previous preservation techniques. His factory progressed from bottles to glass containers and then eventually to cans. These preserves were shipped all over through the French navy.

Peter Durand decided he wanted to capitalize on the preservation of food by patenting it and intended on expanding even further from Appert’s idea by using tinplate.

Once the British saw that the French were using preservation, they believed they needed to as well. Soon after, Bryan Donkin and John Hall set up the first commercial canning factory in Britian in 1812. Tin can preservation became a crucial element for the history of combat and war as well as helping solve hunger issues.

In New York, about a century later, the Max Ams Machine Company of New York patented the double-seam process used in most modern food cans and helped boom the future of industrialized food all the way to the modern day.

National Tin Can Day was founded with the purpose of acknowleging and honoring this creative invention!

Facts About National Tin Can Day

Tin Can Recycling Efficiency  

Steel and tin-plated cans are among the most recyclable materials. Recycling them retains the quality of steel and significantly reduces energy use compared to producing new steel from ore.

The recycling process can be repeated indefinitely without loss of quality.  

Modern Can Manufacturing Advances  

Recent advancements in can manufacturing have led to the use of thinner and stronger materials, improving the sustainability and efficiency of production.

These enhancements also allow for more effective sealing techniques, such as double-seam technology, which enhances food safety and reduces spoilage.  

Cans in the Circular Economy

Modern policy encourages the circular economy for metal packaging, aiming to increase recycling rates and decrease lifecycle carbon emissions.

Steel and aluminum cans are integral to this effort, due to their recyclability and economic value, making them pivotal in sustainable consumption initiatives.

Aluminum vs. Tinplate in Beverage Markets  

The market for beverage cans has increasingly shifted towards aluminum due to its lightweight and recycling advantages. However, tinplate remains widely used for food cans, offering durability and protection, essential for food preservation. 

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