That innocuous 12-pack of Coke sitting on the bottom shelf of your fridge may be nothing special to you, but residents of Prince Edward Island in Canada are celebrating the return of aluminum cans after over 20 years without them. In fact they're so excited about being able to buy beer and soda in cans again, a radio station in Charlottetown actually threw a street party heralding the epic event, with the environment minister being awarded the honor of opening the first can.

Beer cans were banned 35 years ago in the province and 11 years later, soda cans were also eliminated in the area, with preserving jobs at a local bottling plant and environmental concerns cited as the motives for the decision to bid goodbye to aluminum. People living in the area finally had enough and demanded the cans make a comeback. The issue was so important, it became a major player in a governmental election last year.

However, celebrations aside, not everyone is welcoming the decision - or the cans - back onto the island with open, outstretched arms hands.

Green Party leader Sharon Labchuk said the minister should "be ashamed of himself," and condemned the move.

"It's a sad day, not only for the environment in Prince Edward Island but for the environment in those far-away countries where aluminium, actually bauxite, is mined under extremely exploitive conditions of the local people and the environment," she said.

» AFP.com