Even if throwing them out seems easier, there are 5 great reasons why you should save your tin cans. For us and anyone else who loves including rustic elements in their home and lifestyle, tin cans are naturally rustic. So why not find some fun and creative new uses for them? Let’s look at 5 reasons to save your tin cans.

Save Your Tin Cans: A Look Back

Tin cans are touted with helping the U.S. to win World War II, and kids were a big part of that. After the U.S. joined the war, tin cans actually became a form of currency for a lot kids, and here’s why. In 1942, the U.S. War Department required that every town bigger than 25,000 people must have a tin can collection. At that time, Japan controlled roughly 70% of the world’s tin supply, but tin was essential for the U.S. war effort–in ammunition boxes, airplane parts, and morphine syringes, just to name a few. There were strict instructions for removing the labels, washing, and then squashing tin cans in preparation for salvaging.

This is where the kids came in! Kids collected the cans and then took them to the town collection spot and were paid cash for their trouble. In a time of rationing and tightening up the belt, the cash was a boon for scoring extra little treats or toys.

5 Reasons You Should Save Your Tin Cans

There may not be a war effort requiring the tin, but tin cans are still useful in a lot of ways. Here are just 5 things you can do with them.

1 Tin cans are obviously good for inexpensive organizers. Wash them and use them as-is to store and organize lots of things, like all the pens and pencils cluttering up your desk drawer. If you like you can easily paint your tin cans or dress them up with ribbon or Washi tape.

2. Glue a group of tin cans together at their sides in a pyramid shape, and they become a rustic wine rack for your kitchen counter. Don’t drink? Use this rack to hold bottles of olive oil, vinegar, and cooking wines near your cooking space.

3. Save your tin cans to use as rustic vases for wildflower bouquets. Or drill a hole in the bottom for drainage, and use an assortment of tin cans as planters for a kitchen herb garden.

4. Dress up your patio with tin can luminaries. With a nail and hammer, punch holes in the sides of tin cans either randomly or in a design. Place a candle or battery-operated tealight inside. Set them out on the patio at dusk for instant ambience.

5. Decorate a farmhouse-style shelf with succulents in an assortment of tin can planters.

Are you ready to save your tin cans?