Every year, the majority of the 13 billion cork wine stoppers that are sold end up in landfills. Did you know that your cork wine stoppers can be recycled?
Let's begin with the cork tree itself. Unlike the lumber industry, which cuts down trees and depletes forests, cork trees are harvested, not cut down. The tree bark is used to make the cork and then it regenerates itself. The bark is renewable and sustainable and harvesting it does not harm the tree.
Natural cork is biodegradable, renewable and 100% natural. Recycled cork can be used to make cork floor tiles, safety mats, boat decks, place mats, building insulation, sports equipment and even shoe soles. The corks can also be used to replace wood chips around playgrounds, as packaging material and landscape topping.
According to ReCork America, it takes approximately 100,000 sparkling wine corks and about 267,000 wine corks to produce 2,000lbs of cork. So you winos out there, get busy saving the planet!
Now, not all wine stoppers can be recycled, or are good for the planet for that matter. Synthetic corks (those foamy plastic, cork-wanna-be's) which are made from petroleum based products, and of course aluminum screw caps end up in landfills.
There are several wineries, wine retailers, restaurants and organizations that are collecting used corks from their day to day business and participating in the cork recycling program. I encourage you to support these businesses and their efforts to protect the environment. You can find them here.
At this time, ReCork America hasn't published what their plans are for recycling the corks. As of right now they are just storing them in their warehouse in Napa. If you are anxious to put your wine drinking to good use and start saving the planet (I am proud of you!), you can send your corks via UPS or USPS to:
Yemm & Hart Ltd. Wine Cork Recycling 425 N. Chamber Dr. Fredericktown, MO 63645
You can also join Terracycle's Cork Brigade, and send them your corks. Or even join the fight to save Miguel (who is Miguel?) and sign a pledge of support of natural cork wine stoppers.
It doesn't take too much effort. There are some easy things you can do to help protect the planet (and drink wine while you're at it). 1) Make sure you buy only wine with cork wine stoppers, NOT screw caps or synthetic corks. And 2) save your corks and send them to the organization of your choice.
So, drink up, save your corks and save the planet. Cheers!
Let's begin with the cork tree itself. Unlike the lumber industry, which cuts down trees and depletes forests, cork trees are harvested, not cut down. The tree bark is used to make the cork and then it regenerates itself. The bark is renewable and sustainable and harvesting it does not harm the tree.
Natural cork is biodegradable, renewable and 100% natural. Recycled cork can be used to make cork floor tiles, safety mats, boat decks, place mats, building insulation, sports equipment and even shoe soles. The corks can also be used to replace wood chips around playgrounds, as packaging material and landscape topping.
According to ReCork America, it takes approximately 100,000 sparkling wine corks and about 267,000 wine corks to produce 2,000lbs of cork. So you winos out there, get busy saving the planet!
Now, not all wine stoppers can be recycled, or are good for the planet for that matter. Synthetic corks (those foamy plastic, cork-wanna-be's) which are made from petroleum based products, and of course aluminum screw caps end up in landfills.
There are several wineries, wine retailers, restaurants and organizations that are collecting used corks from their day to day business and participating in the cork recycling program. I encourage you to support these businesses and their efforts to protect the environment. You can find them here.
At this time, ReCork America hasn't published what their plans are for recycling the corks. As of right now they are just storing them in their warehouse in Napa. If you are anxious to put your wine drinking to good use and start saving the planet (I am proud of you!), you can send your corks via UPS or USPS to:
Yemm & Hart Ltd. Wine Cork Recycling 425 N. Chamber Dr. Fredericktown, MO 63645
You can also join Terracycle's Cork Brigade, and send them your corks. Or even join the fight to save Miguel (who is Miguel?) and sign a pledge of support of natural cork wine stoppers.
It doesn't take too much effort. There are some easy things you can do to help protect the planet (and drink wine while you're at it). 1) Make sure you buy only wine with cork wine stoppers, NOT screw caps or synthetic corks. And 2) save your corks and send them to the organization of your choice.
So, drink up, save your corks and save the planet. Cheers!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment