Drinks After Dark

What to do with all those corks

by Rachel Segal on June 16th, 2008

At home, I have a box of corks that represent many fantastic evenings and bottles savored. I’ve seen people do some lovely things with their corks - even something as simple as displaying them on the wall in a glass case works. Their rough texture and symbolism co-mingle to provide an impressive representation of a wine lover’s travels.

Well, here’s another alternative, if you’re short on wall space, storage room, or (gasp!) just aren’t that attached to your personal collection of corks.

Terracycle takes waste and processes it in order to turn it into something useful again. Their products, such as TerraCycle Plant Food has been sold in The Home Depot, Whole Foods, and Wal-mart Canada.

So what are they doing with corks?

From their website:

TerraCycle wants to save millions of corks from going into landfills. We are recruiting wine enthusiasts, restaurants, bars, tasting wineries and anyone else who has used corks to help. As an eco-friendly innovator, TerraCycle will be “upcycling” used corks - both natural and synthetic - into cool products that will be available nationally at major retailers.

The example shown looks like a doormat. My fingers are crossed they get a little more artsy with their cork usage.

I’ll be contributing to the cause, since it’s certainly better then them sitting in my closet/stuffed in random kitchen drawers/etc. I can’t wait to pepper my walls with some fancy one of a kind cork artwork (yep, I’m not going to be satisfied if the buck stops at doormat…hint, hint TerraCycle guys…).

(Photo: Jeff Smallwood)
(Reference: LA Times Blog - Emerald City)

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POSTED IN: In The News, wine industry