Link to the Children's Museum needs an "h"

If its 100% biodegradeable... I mean I understand that reusing it is somewhat more efficient, but it isn't like plastic that's just gonna sit in the landfill if *not* recycled.

Or you can save all of your corks for several years and make the coolest cork board ever! All you need is an old frame with the glass removed, wood/hot glue, and a utility knife.

It looks much more hip if you frequent local vinyards. :)

If it's 100% natural and biodegradable, then why recycle it? Why not just throw it on the ground where you stand, and let nature take it's course?

I have a whole mason jar full of them but I keep them for sentimental value (each bottle I have drank means the world to me).

@itiswhatitis: I feel the same way about the two bottles of Chucky Shaw I put down on the average weeknight.

Is this really a major issue? Perhaps we should focus more on recycling metal, glass, and paper first.

@Oranges w/ Cheese misses her boyfriend who's in michigan:
Actually, once in a landfill the process of burying things seems to horribly retard biodegradability. Apparently, one way that people who do digs at modern landfills see how far back in time they are is to check dates on the newspaper. I recall seeing in a documentary someone holding a hot dog that almost looked edible, but was somewhere around 50 years old.

@HIV 2 Elway: There's no hangover quite like a wine hangover. Hoo boy

they are compostable - throw them in your compost with everything else.

@HIV 2 Elway:
sigh. I wish anyone near here sold it.

@techstar25: because it can take years for things to biodegrade. Also, not all corks are made out of cork - more wine bottles are using some sort of synthetic cork- it feels plastic-y

@downwithmonstercable: You weren't partying with me on Sunday. A Johnny Walker red/ vodka hangover is the gift that keeps on giving.

@starzshine: we have about 10 years of corks sitting in various drawers and bags around our kitchen, with the plan to do this at some point (some point is always "next weekend" whenever dad threatens to throw them out)

we use them to start fires. throw them in a mason jar filled with rubbing alcohol. pull out one when you need to start a fire (in your fireplace). place on top of kindling and light it up.

I use corks to "mellow" out the harshness of some of the safety razor blades I use. It supposedly "deburrs" them. Stupid hard water stops me from finding out if it's really working.

@itiswhatitis: Ugh. 4th of July this year I somehow drank 2/3 of a bottle of Maker's Mark in about an hour and a half. I dreamed I was a unicorn flying through clouds and rainbows.

@harvey_birdman: IIRC, the only recycling that is even economical/even exchange is Aluminum. Everything else costs more/uses more energy than using raw material.

@harvey_birdman:

It's not like you can't recycle all those and recycle cork too.

@Dr. Eirik: They need to introduce earthworms or something. Burial alone should not retard biodegradability. I mean, compost works, does it not?

Wait, I thought the uptake of rubber corks and boxed wine has lead to the decline of cork trees. So wouldn't creating even less demand for the cork trees eventually drive them to extinction?

Source: [earthtrends.wri.org]

@specialista: Some of them have coatings on them or are not even made from cork.

Wow, I lived in Ontario for about a year, finally managed to figure out where the government store was the actually sold wine, and went through vast, company-paid volumes of it, and never realized that I was to have recycled the corks.

^Canadian

I have never, ever seen cork recycling, other than in arts and crafts.

I recycle them - my pet rats love to eat and play with corks.

For those ratless - you can make great hot plates with corks and wire

@reesemcg:
That's a great idea. May I borrow it?

@downwithmonstercable: that made me howl, I bet you were seeing some rainbows the next morning as you were praying to the porcelain god!

At least you can recall that, I have to bring a camera with me everywhere, like Memento, so I know what the hell happens at night (and its even more hilarious when my friends give me a recap filling in the missing pieces the photos didn't show).

Me + 750ml of Wine + hard liquor + a few crazy hours on weekend= a fast road to AA meetings.

@Oranges w/ Cheese in rainy Central FL: For composting, you also need air. In landfills, everything is compacted and covered in dirt.

Aren't most corks nowadays just styrofoam wrapped in rubber?

I prefer the wine in a box anyway. Or a nice screw-off top.

What is this cork stuff? My wine only comes in boxes or if it is a fancy celebration, a twist off cap.

@Confuzius: I'm Canadian as well, and I have never ever heard of recycling cork, though I did know it was in short supply now. And I do drink a lot, so I'm not unfamiliar with liquor stores and recycling depots. I'm from Alberta, so perhaps cork recycling is an Eastern Canada thing?

This really shouldn't be an issue if it weren't for pretentious wine bottlers. Screw caps do a much better job of protecting the flavor of wine than any cork!

I saved my cork and used it to build a counter top for my custom bar.

@calquist: Oh,you gotta love the box wine. It's just so convenient.

Carlo Rossi is the best tasting for the price.

@Oranges w/ Cheese in rainy Central FL: You must stir your compost. If you remove the air (as landfills do), it will take forever and evers for things to biodgrade. See: Bog Man.

@AirIntake:
Quebec here.
It may be an Ontario thing, what with their Niagara wineries and such...

@tbax929: If you look online there are instructions to make fancier versions, using, like, wax to coat the cork, or adding dryer lint (really!) or other things, and then ways to pretty it up so you can give someone a basket of them for the holidays.

I've never done but it appeals to my frugality fixation.

If I recycle the cork, how do I keep my letters to far off lands from getting wet?

@anonymousryan:
I think that's more of a pretentious consumer thing. Bottlers want their wine to have the best flavour possible, and many of them know that screwtop will preserver the flavours better, but the consumers are very hesitant to buy a $50 bottle with a screwtop when screwtops are generally the domain of hobo wine.

@gStein: I don't think those corks are the corks we're talking about here. It's pretty clear from the post that ReCork America is looking for cork corks.

@kexline: Arg, replied to the wrong person.

One way cork can be recycled is in shoes. For example, allen-edmonds uses ground cork mixed with adhesive in their shoes.

Champaign type corks (also used in many Belgian and American beers) are impregnated with a wax substance to prevent dehydration. Are these also recyclable?

Over the years, I've collected hundreds of corks. I've been keeping them with the idea that I'd one day find a great way to reuse them. This post has renewed my interest to pursue that asap!

@winshape: Not too long ago, a sommelier told me that that's eventually where wine is heading. It's better for the cost as well as much of the expense comes from the bottles themselves.

@itiswhatitis:
My wine of choice doesn't have a cork. It's a screw cap. Fortified citrus wines FTW!

@techstar25: Cork shortages.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Hehe! You said "dryer lint" and "pretty it up" in the same sentence! Merry Christmas, here's my lint!

Not to say that it couldn't or shouldn't be done, just the idea of it is very amusing to me.

@kexline: No I'm pretty sure you're both talking about the same type of corks. All you do it save up wine, champagne and fancy beer corks and then glue them into a frame. Its a cork board made of corks.