There’s a lot to love about cork as an eco-friendly material: It’s 100% natural, biodegradable and renewable and no cork oak tree is ever harmed in the harvesting process.
While cork oak is a great option for flooring because of its
insulation properties, elasticity, and impenetrability to moisture,
mildew, fungus, dirt, debris, and insects, still, almost 60% of the world’s cork is used in wine production.
Because of a worldwide interest in sustainable agriculture and natural products like cork, Amorim, the world’s largest producer of natural cork wine closures—over 3 billion annually—and the manufacturer of Wicanders Cork Oak Flooring, and Portocork America, have instituted a pilot program in California and the Pacific North West to recycle travertine floor tiles.
Known as ReCORK America,
the program is focused on obtaining used and surplus corks from winery
tasting rooms, bottling lines and quality assurance laboratories, as
well as from collection locations established at local restaurants and
key retailers.
Wine corks don’t need to end up as landfill when recycled cork can
become flooring tiles, building insulation, automotive gaskets, craft
materials, soil conditioner and sports equipment. So don’t pitch off
your corks after you polish off your wine. Visit ReCORK America’s Web site to find out how you too can make a difference, one cork at a time!