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Turn Your Corks Into Home Décor
Are the wine corks piling up in your house? Learn how to recycle or reuse these versatile, sustainable stoppers
Despite the trend of screw caps, boxed wine, and plastic corks in the wine industry, cork is still the dominate material of choice when it comes to sealing up our beloved wine. Although you might think that using natural cork in this manner is a waste of materials, the fact is that the cork industry is a renewable industry; cork can be reused in everything from flooring tiles, to building insulation, to soil conditioner, to sports equipment. If you're like me, you've been accumulating a collection of corks for quite some time now, and have no idea what to do with it. Don't just toss them in the trash — read on to learn how to keep this durable material out of our landfills.
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| The important thing to know about natural cork is that harvesting it does not require cutting down a tree. Natural cork is derived from the bark of cork trees using a special axe which does not harm the tree in any way. The bark is harvested every 9 to 12 years, and the cork trees will still live to be hundreds of years old. Recycling and reusing cork lessens the pressure to harvest before the trees are fully ready, as well as keeping materials out of landfills. Photo by ShadyH on Flickr.com |
by Regina L. Pace
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Use It. Create a kitchen backsplash! Cork is a durable but flexible material that has dozens of uses. Designer Regina Pace used it in this kitchen backsplash.
This kitchen was built on a budget, so Pace wanted to make sure it looked nice while still keeping it affordable. She spiced up the look of the space by combining affordable box cabinetry with 1" x 2" split-face travertine tile mixed in with corks.
Cut in half, the corks were exactly the right size to create a unique pattern on this kitchen backsplash.
This kitchen was built on a budget, so Pace wanted to make sure it looked nice while still keeping it affordable. She spiced up the look of the space by combining affordable box cabinetry with 1" x 2" split-face travertine tile mixed in with corks.
Cut in half, the corks were exactly the right size to create a unique pattern on this kitchen backsplash.
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| This Houzz user did something similar without tile. Using a combination of about 650 collected and purchased corks, she cut them in half and adhered them to the flat side of the wall using double-stick foam tape. |
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Create instant art. Make trivets (like this one from The Wooden Bee), bulletin boards, coasters, or wall art out of corks. Since cork is so durable, you really don't need to do anything to protect them. But, if you really wanted to, you can apply a spray-on polyurethane to the corks before putting them in their frame.
by Monica Ewing
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Make a bathmat. Monica from The Crafty Nest put together this chic bathmat using 175 collected wine corks, a hot glue gun, and a non-adhesive shelf liner. Read her post for more details.
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Other household uses for wine corks:
Slice a small wedge lengthwise out of a cork and put it into a vinegar or olive oil bottle that pours too quickly. It will become an instant pour spout.
Clean high-carbon knives with a dash of cleanser and a cork to avoid scratching the knives.
Store knifes in drawers by cutting slits into the top of a cork, and storing the knives blade down.
Slice small discs off of the cork and put them on the bottom of furniture that can scratch the floor. You can also put them on cupboard doors to prevent them from slamming loudly.
Use corks as garden mulch. Grind up corks with a food processor and add the mixture to your garden bed. The cork retains a lot of moisture. You can also put this mixture in the bottom of flower pots.
Slice a small wedge lengthwise out of a cork and put it into a vinegar or olive oil bottle that pours too quickly. It will become an instant pour spout.
Clean high-carbon knives with a dash of cleanser and a cork to avoid scratching the knives.
Store knifes in drawers by cutting slits into the top of a cork, and storing the knives blade down.
Slice small discs off of the cork and put them on the bottom of furniture that can scratch the floor. You can also put them on cupboard doors to prevent them from slamming loudly.
Use corks as garden mulch. Grind up corks with a food processor and add the mixture to your garden bed. The cork retains a lot of moisture. You can also put this mixture in the bottom of flower pots.
by Pour Toujours
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Frame corks from bottles opened for memorable occasions, or maybe just put a few corks from your favorite bottles in a frame. Here, this user framed corks from champagne bottles they opened when each of their children was born.
Cut a small slit in a cork and level out the bottom to make a place-card holder for dinner parties, or use as a business card holder.
Put one next to your sewing kit for a quick pin holder.
Corks make great stamps for crafts! Simply carve out the design of your choice with an X-acto knife.
Cut a small slit in a cork and level out the bottom to make a place-card holder for dinner parties, or use as a business card holder.
Put one next to your sewing kit for a quick pin holder.
Corks make great stamps for crafts! Simply carve out the design of your choice with an X-acto knife.
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Lose It: Unfortunately, you can't just toss your used corks into your recycling bin. However, there are numerous organizations devoted to reusing cork and keeping it out of the waste stream.
ReCORK is a natural wine cork recycling program that collects millions of used corks from individuals, retail organizations, hotels, winery tasting rooms, bottling lines, and more. Mail your used corks into their facility, where they'll be processed into everything from sports goods to shoe soles.
TerraCycle's Cork Brigade upcycles used corks into numerous products available at major retailers. Sign up at TerraCycle.net and mail your corks in. If you collect 200 or more corks, they'll pay for your shipping costs as well.
ReCORK is a natural wine cork recycling program that collects millions of used corks from individuals, retail organizations, hotels, winery tasting rooms, bottling lines, and more. Mail your used corks into their facility, where they'll be processed into everything from sports goods to shoe soles.
TerraCycle's Cork Brigade upcycles used corks into numerous products available at major retailers. Sign up at TerraCycle.net and mail your corks in. If you collect 200 or more corks, they'll pay for your shipping costs as well.
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Green manufacturing company Yemm & Hart accepts natural corks that are mailed into their processing facility. The Missouri-based company is converting them into wine cork tiles for construction and design purposes.
Jelinek Cork Group reuses the corks and turns them into just about everything, including flooring, ceilings, dartboards and fishing rod handles. Check out their locations here to mail corks to a facility that's nearest to you.
How do you re-use your corks? Tell us! Share a photo in the comment section below.
More Use It or Lose Its:
How to Get Rid of a Mattress
What to Do With Leftover Building Materials
How to Get Rid of Old Light Bulbs
Jelinek Cork Group reuses the corks and turns them into just about everything, including flooring, ceilings, dartboards and fishing rod handles. Check out their locations here to mail corks to a facility that's nearest to you.
How do you re-use your corks? Tell us! Share a photo in the comment section below.
More Use It or Lose Its:
How to Get Rid of a Mattress
What to Do With Leftover Building Materials
How to Get Rid of Old Light Bulbs
Ideabook updated on Nov. 17, 2011.
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I found a great tutorial on how to make it and then some winery related photos to complete the look
http://cleansmartsimple.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-my-endless-internet-research-aka.html
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love the idea of using them for garden mulch
new meaning to the term 'garden party'!
http://bluevelvetchair.blogspot.com/2011/11/22-inspiring-diy-cork-projects.html
Michael @ Blue Velvet Chair