Pop Your Cork But Don’t Throw It Away by Susan
I am a recycler. I try to be very careful about what I put in the trash that will ultimately end up in the landfill. I recycle all glass, plastic, aluminum, newspaper, cardboard and the plastic newspaper bags. I love our Formerly Flip Flop campaign because it keeps flip flops – which take forever to disintegrate — out of our landfills
and turns them into really cute bracelets.
I am not perfect – I still use plastic sandwich and snack bags but instead of throwing them away after each use, I wash them out and reuse them until they no longer function. I used to make fun of my grandmother for washing and reusing her aluminum foil but little did I know she was teaching me valuable lessons about respecting the earth and being thrifty.
Well, when my friend and recycler extraordinaire, Rachel Anderson, sent me an email about recycling wine corks, I immediately stopped tossing them in the trash. You see, I like to drink red wine — as was evidenced when Lois and I and our husbands recently went on a Bite San Diego Food Tour. Larry and I have already collected a nice-sized pile in the last two weeks with the help of several friends, and with the holidays upon us, I know we will accumulate quite a few more.
There are several places around the country where you can drop off your wine corks, including all 300 Whole Foods Markets. Check this list to find a drop-off spot near you. The corks cannot be reused for wine bottle closure but instead are re-purposed to make cork floor tiles, consumer and industrial products and even cork bobbers for fishermen. You can learn more about the Cork Forest Conservation Alliance and read their mission statement.
Growing up on a farm, it was ingrained in me from an early age that we need to respect Mother Earth and take care of our natural resources. Thanks to Rachel, I have found one more way that I can do my part, and I hope you all will join me. Cheers!
Thanks for this! I’m an avid recycler as well. Partner jokes that it’s one of my hobbies. Anyway, I always felt terrible tossing corks and now I can start hoarding, er, recycling those too.
If you’re a crafter, do a search for ‘corks’ on Etsy.com and see all the neat things you can make (or buy) with recycled corks. Several years ago I created my own version of a wine cork trivet and gave as Christmas gifts. They were big hit! Thanks for spreading the word about how to recycle and save our landfills from another waste.
Happy to see you’re on the recycling, upcycling road!
Yes! cork recycling is now much more widespread which is great. But there are so many more things that can be recycled including lids from jars and bottles. (Don’t know how it is where you live, but here you can recycle plastic bottles and glass, but not lids.) Check out http://www.Earth911.com for places to recycle lots of things you had no idea you could!
Also, wondering why you’re still using plastic sandwich bags when there are so many great alternatives available! You can check on Etsy also for fabric bags, lined or unlined. A product we discovered recently is Abeego which is a hemp covered in beeswax which is a great substitute for plastic wrap. (Don’t work for them, just love the product.)
Anyway, congrats on moving towards recycling as much as possible.
Warmly,
Lynn
thank you so much! have been saving corks for a long time… was going to someday make that cork board or those neat hot plate holders… but now i’m moving and don’t want to take them with me.
as always you’re a life saver!!!
thanks!
Yippee! Whole Foods here I come with a bag!
Thanks for the info~
There’s actually a website called Recork that will give you places to recycle your corks near your home: http://recork.org/
I hope Rachel reads this so she knows she made the grade! I may have a few corks to recycle!!
Susan, I think I should take up drinking, at least wine, so I can contribute to this cause…………well, maybe not as I don’t need another fattening habit!! I will save all my corks for recycling from wine I serve to guest; who knew? Now I do. Love, S :)