Cork forests are endangered, but surprisingly, if we opt for wine with real corks instead of the newer plastic and metal caps, we'll support these forests' existence through the magic of supply and demand.
Cork is made from stripping bark off cork oak trees without damaging the trees. Cork trees can live for well over 100 years and keep regrowing their bark, while new metal and plastic has to be mined and manufactured for those non-cork caps. Rare wildlife, such as the Iberian lynx, depend on cork oak forests for their survival. Corks do just fine plugging wine bottles - they've done it for centuries. Screw caps just aren't the same as popping the cork on wine bottles.
- ReMake It Wine Cork Trivet - metal contraption that turns your old corks into a table-top protector for hot plates ($13).
- Yemm & Hart - send in your used wine corks, and it'll recycle them for you.
- Put used corks on top of the soil in your houseplant pots - they're compostable and work great as mulch. Check this blog for other crafty reuses.
