"wine corks" news and stories

This week, Whole Foods Market announced that all 292 of its stores in the U.S., Canada and England will collect customers' wine corks with the goal of turning them into really cool items. The company has partnered with Cork ReHarvest to find various ways to repurpose the corks. For example, Midwestern Whole Foods stores plan to give the corks to Yemm & Hart, a cork-floor tile manufacturer. At stores west of the Rocky Mountains, corks will be turned into recyclable cardboard shippers containing 10 percent cork. And Jelinek Cork Group, one of North America's oldest cork manufacturers, will be responsible for taking corks turned in at Whole Foods stores along the East Coast in the U.S. and throughout the U.K., and transforming them into an assortment of products for consumers. While news hasn't been announced about what exactly those products will be, Jelinek creates cork coasters, furniture, model-train tracks, fishing rods and flooring designed for yoga studios (as well as yoga blocks).

If you're like us, you have an abundant collection of wine corks. Sure, you could save them for the day when you will actually have the time to sit down and construct trivets or bath mats out of the corks. Or, you can donate them to this good cause.

Whole Foods says it's the first national retailer to offer a cork-recycling program. Only natural corks can be turned into the stores' drop boxes -- so keep those synthetic corks for an innovative D.I.Y. project, perhaps?

Wine corks. They're something of a troublesome little doodad. There's not much use for them once the bottle has been consumed and yet their substantial feel that makes many of us hesitate before chucking them in the garbage. Some folks turn their cork collections into bulletin boards (with the help of some glue and an empty picture frame) or floor tiles but for others, those projects might feel a bit ambitious.

Saturday, while browsing the merchandise at Foster's Homewares here in Philly, I spotted a fun little gizmo that allows you to turn eight wine corks into a trivet, perfect for protecting your dining room table from damaging hot pots and bowls. It's far lower effort than the bulletin board and makes for a fun topic of conversation at your next dinner party. I'm adding it to my list of things I long for (especially since I have a handful of corks leftover from an assortment of holiday celebrations).

If this item calls out to you, purchasing info can be found here.

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