Save a tree, buy cork!

After several days seeing cork trees and cork products around Lisbon, the DC Recycler has become a convert to cork. Cork today can replace leather, plastic, and wood. Portuguese companies, like Pelcor and Artelusa , use cork to make umbrellas, backpacks, fashionable bags, wallets, hats, belts, notebook covers, and so on. Cork can also be used for insulation, and it repels water, sound, and heat/cold. It can be recycled and helps to save jobs and the environment in Portugal and elsewhere. 100,000 jobs in the Mediterranean rely on cork production. Buy wines with natural cork stoppers (no more plastic corks!) and recycle the cork. Save a tree and jobs, buy cork!

DC Recycler Foreign Correspondent to visit Cork Forest

Yes, the DC Recycler is taking the show on the road, to a cork forest outside Lisbon, Portugal. The DC Recycler will be reporting LIVE from the Alentejo region, which has, as I have been told, the largest cork forests in the world.

Where can I recycle my mixed casette tapes?

Flying Squirrel Pizza in Seattle is striving to to have the biggest collection of custom made mix tapes on their walls. Totally awesome!

Anthropologists Talk about Recycling of Textiles

Yes, it is true. There is an entire conference on Recycling Textile Technologies at UCL. It's part of a pretty interesting looking research program called The Waste of the World.

Common Good City Farm is collecting kitchen scraps for compost

By popular demand, Common Good City Farm, on V Street NW between 2nd and 4th Streets NW, has started its "Common Good Compost Program." The Compost Program allows you to drop off your organic kitchen scraps (no meat or dairy) at Common Good City Farm during Farm Hours. If you want to bring your scraps, there are a few pieces of protocol that need to be followed closely. Whether or not you take part in the compost program, visit the farm. It's a great place!

Let your favorite wine/liquor store know about ReCork

Yesterday, I wrote an email to my favorite wine store, Schneider's here on Capitol Hill, to ask them whether they were considering collecting wine corks for recycling. They said that they hadn't heard about the cork recycling programs and they were going to look into it. Talk with your favorite wine/liquor store about cork recycling. There are great programs. Here's my letter to give you some ideas.

*****
I regularly benefit from your great store. I was wondering whether Schneider's was thinking about collecting corks for recycling. Cork and Fork (with a new NW location) collects corks for recycling: http://www.corkandforkva.com/.

Whole Foods does too. These stores generally work through ReCork: http://recork.org/

ReCork and other organizations are turning cork into shoes, floor tiles, etc. Also, by having people recycle natural cork, they will likely buy wines with natural cork and help support the sustainable cork business in the Mediterranean (supporting 100,000 jobs).

World Wildlife Fund is encouraging us to do this:
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/mediterranean/about/forests/cork/what_you_can_do/

It seems relatively easy to be a collection partner with ReCork:
http://recork.org/get-involved/

I just wanted to let you know about this, but you probably already know all about it. Thanks for considering it!

Best,
Johanna
*****

Recycle your Brita water filters at Whole Foods

Whole Foods stores across the region are recycling Brita water filters and other #5 plastics through the Preserve Gimme 5 program. You can also mail your plastics to Preserve Gimme 5. These plastics are turned into toothbrushes, razors, tongue cleaners, park benches, decks, etc.