Stick a Cork in it: Recycle This!
Now this is the kind of recycling anyone can get behind: Step 1 is "Drink 180 bottles of wine (adults only)."
That's right, it's time to start collecting those wine bottle corks when you recycle the wine bottles, and then put them to good use. If you're feeling ambitious, you're going to make a decorative yet functional cork board. The rest of the directions are here.
For those who prefer emptying wine bottles to getting crafty, how about just mailing those corks off? You do have to pay the postage, but as of March, champagne and wine corks are recyclable in the U.S. Send them via USPS or UPS to:
Wine Cork Recycling
Yemm & Hart Ltd
610 South Chamber Dr
Fredericktown MO 63645
The program has already collected one and a half tons of pure cork stoppers. From the contributions recieved, corks are then divided by Yemm & Hart. The pure cork ones will be converted to tile by Yemm & Hart to be used for flooring or walls, and the others are donated for local school kids to use in crafting. The whole program is still something of an experiment at this point. Once the tiles begin making a profit, the cork donations will become cork redemption. Until that happens, cork donors will get "preferential pricing" on the tiles. Sweet.
As if you needed any more reasons to drink wine. Now you're helping build sustainable homes, you're helping school arts programs, you're even, according to the British recycling forum responsible for the cork board directions above, preventing the destruction of the habitat of the Iberian Lynx (they live in cork forests). Cheers!
Comments
Great info! I’ve seen cork flooring in a friend’s home, and it’s really great! Very durable and cool. It’s nice to know we can recycle the corks ourselves.
And just think, you never have to worry about forgetting items on your to-do list again...just pin them to your floor and you’re good to go! =)
What a great idea! You know, taking recycling to the next step just makes sense. In my extreme humble opinion, eventually everything will be precious enough to where everyone thinks twice about how they dispose of our natural resources. I will put this article to gooooood use!!!!!!!
Tim, thanks for putting the article to use! I agree about the preciousness of “things”. It will also make us consider what we “need” versus what we just impulsively “want”. I keep everything now: emptied egg cartons (to return to the vendor at the farmer’s market for re-use), milk containers and toilet paper rolls (for kids’ projects?). I’ve found less of a need to buy things and more uses for what I already have!