http://www.care2.com/greenliving/saving-the-corks.html
Saving the Corks
ReCORK America has started a recycling program to reclaim a small portion of the estimated 13 billion natural cork wine stoppers sold in the world each year. The six-month trial will involve 25 Northern California Whole Foods Market stores. Each store will have a collection box situated in the wine department. Customers will be encouraged to add wine corks to their list of recyclable packaging.
Roger Archey, program manager for ReCORK, is pleased with the partnership. “Whole Foods Market is a benchmark for environmental stewardship and sustainable business practices,” says Archey. “We are pleased to be able to provide Whole Foods Market customers with a convenient recycling option that extends the useful life of corks for years to come.”
Unlike plastic or metal screwcap closures, recycled cork can be turned into flooring tile, building insulation, shoe soles, fishing rod handles, bulletin boards, and even soil conditioner. Natural cork is biodegradable, sustainable and a valuable source for carbon retention.
Adesina Stewart, green mission specialist for Whole Foods Market’s Northern California Region, likes the idea of providing customers with more recycling options. “What’s not to like about recycling corks?” says Stewart. “With billions of corks ending up in landfill each year, you can see how a seemingly insignificant packaging product like a wine cork can have a positive impact on our environment if we reuse it.”
For a listing of the Northern California Whole Foods Market stores participating in this recycling program, visit www.recorkamerica.com.
ReCORK America is a recycling program sponsored by Amorim, the world’s largest producer of natural cork wine closures, and their U.S. affiliates, Portocork America and Amorim Cork America. For information about Amorim’s sustainable business practices and environmental stewardship, visit their Web site at www.amorim.com.
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10 comments
add your comment »This is somewhat related to corks being recycled... I found this Great New Company online that sells these Beautiful Beverage Glasses made from Recycled Wine Bottles. The website is www.GreenEarthGlass.com and their glasses are really cool!
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Great idea, wish we had this in SA. Not sure how environmentally friendly my idea is, but if douse the corks with something flamable and use the corks to light fires - it is another way of re-using it - although not with the same nice effects that cork flooring may have ;-)
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If the US does what they are already doing in Australia and New Zealand for conservation, they have converted their vintages to screw cap bottles. The Aussie's equivalent for BevMo didn't have a single bottle with a cork.
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Thank goodness someone has started recycling corks! Hopefully this will come to East Coast. I have a 5 gallon glass jar full! It makes an interesting display, but I would be so happy to recycle! As SuzB.said how do we get local grocery or liquor stores to collec?
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I agree with Marilyn R., I also have been saving my corks(maybe to make some craft) but point is, I try to recycle anything I can,so how do we get local grocery or liquor stores to start collecting our corks to send to the places that do recycle them ?
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Not about cork, but a tip for recycling wine boxes. I remove the bladder of wine through the top, thereby preserving the sides of the box. Store the wine in a drawer in the refrigerator. Cut the box to the shape of a magazine file, paint or wallpaper it, and use it for crafts books and other items.
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I've saved "real"corks for years.Have hundreds. Will NOT mail them, but how about wine stores and liquor stores that sell wine having recycling boxes all over the USA? Makes sense to me.
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A truly EXCELLENT practice. I have THOUGHT of this myself so BRAVO!
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I agree with the above comment by Jen Dowdy his made as we need to keep the cork forest and all it wild life.
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That is interesting that they are discussing natural cork. I have read of many conservation groups encouraging people to buy wine with natural cork in the first place, as the cork industry supports keeping the cork forests alive. In Portugal and Spain, cork forests make up part of the remaining habitat for the critically endangered Iberian lynx. This is really interesting that now this cork that is once used can be used into something else and also help save the earth.
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