Culture in a Teacup
The sound of rain pitter-pats down on an old tin roof, each millimetre slowly fills the old water tank. From our houses and fences to our cars, to makeshift shelters for our numerous amounts of deadly snakes and spiders; whether they are aware of it or not Australian's love their aluminium and it's not just the Aussies who have taken this metal into their homes and their hearts. This most abundant of metals has found its way into much of the Western world's culture in one way or another.
Take for instance soda, soft drink, pre-mixed alcohols and beer, all of these beverages are consumed on a massive global scale everyday and many of them are packaged within aluminium cans. As an alternative to glass bottles, aluminium cans are much easier to store, less likely to break and can be compacted to a much smaller size after use, and on top all of this aluminium cans are the quickest container to chill. Not only do these factors make the aluminium can a desirable way in which to enjoy chilled beverages but in some states collecting and recycling cans is a favourite past-time and way to make a quick buck with recycling depots offering cash in return for the used items.
It's not just used cans that are valuable either, the creative designs and colourful design element of some cans have made them a worthy item of collecting. Collecting beer cans, for instance became, a rather booming fad in the 70s and 80s and even spawned an organisation dedicated to the hobby, The Beer Can Collectors of America, however as bottled beer became the favoured method of drinking, the popularity of collecting slowly died off, however the club still exists as the Brewery Collectibles Club of America and now associates itself with collectibles of all kinds related to beer and breweries. Can collecting though is still a hobby enjoyed by people world-wide, many companies even release limited edition cans or incorporate pop-culture figures such as Scooby-Doo and Batman on their beverages to boost sales.
It is not just those oh-so-wonderful, multi-purpose cans that are made out of aluminium either, oh no; due to its uncanny resistance to corrosion and high durability and flexibility a great deal of sculpture artists choose to work with aluminium as the base for their models. Other artists such as painter, Stephanie Weber, take the aluminium to their easel and paint over it to achieve effects unobtainable on a regular canvas. Working with aluminium isn't just for entrepreneurs and the creatively-blessed either; there are a great many simple projects available on the internet that people can try at home.
So now we know how aluminium can be used to beautify our homes and give us something to do and even how it can become a beautiful piece of art, but can it help us personally? Well, yes it can; salon operators, hairdressers and even rebellious kids at home, have for years been using aluminium foil to change their appearance. I can understand some confusion by this statement so allow me to delve deeper into the world of hairdressing. It is quite common for someone to want to change the colour of their hair, and when they want to go from one colour to another, this is simple enough. However when said person wants multiple colours or shades throughout, this process becomes something different all together. To create such an effect parts of the hair will must be segmented and separated, the separated sections are then dyed the desired colour (generally different to the base colour) and then wrapped in aluminium foil to keep them separated from the base. This process used world-wide is simply known as Foils.
Yes it is everywhere, a part of cultures from one end of the world to the other, each as different as the many forms of aluminium, denying the part this valuable resource plays is futile as any attempt is simply foiled.