ReCork Reusing a Renewable Resource

February 25th, 2011

Cork Trees - A Natural Fire Extinguisher

ReCORK advocates for natural cork. The virtues of natural cork used for bottle closures are well documented on our site. Not only is it the natural, more authentic way to bottle your wine, but cork's environmental impact is dramatically less than that of oil- and metal-based closures.

That said, there are some overwhelmingly positive merits to the growing and maintaining of the cork forests. Cork oaks can grow in a number of places but the world's most renowned cork forests are located in the Mediterranean, primarily in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, France and Morocco.

Three Great Cork Tree Virtues:

Cork Trees Are a Pyrophyte

• No kidding, cork trees actually keep fire away.
• The thickness of the cork bark naturally repels fire.
• Cork trees protect surrounding lands.

Farmers have planted cork trees around crops for years in the Mediterranean, to help prevent brush fires from destroying their crops.

On a side note, every summer I watch California go up in flames and wonder why we don't plant cork trees up and down the coast?

Cork Trees Are a Natural, Endemic Barrier to Desertification

• The trees are amazingly resilient.
• They grow and thrive in arid climates where many tree species just can't sustain life.

It is widely believed by the people that work the lands in the cork forests that without the cork trees, we would be looking at nothing but a big pile of rocks and dust in those areas.

Harvesting Cork Trees Enhances Forest Life

• The cork trees are NOT cut down to get the cork.
• Cork is harvested from the trees just like you would harvest oranges from an orange tree year after year.
• Harvested cork trees can live three to four times longer than non-harvested trees.

One of the most egregious myths perpetrated by the oil-based and metal stopper makers is that the trees are killed in order to get the cork. It's just not true - the cork bark is meticulously harvested. An un-harvested tree can live 30 - 40 years, harvested trees can live well over 150 years.

Another note on the cork forests: when you think of harvesting, you generally think of organized crops on a farm. That's not the case with cork oaks - you truly feel like you are in a pristine ecosystem in the cork forests.

These are just some of cork's virtues.

Posted by: Matt Hughes at 10:44 a.m.
Filed under: Cork Uses
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