Sourced from southern Portugal, they support re-wilding projects in the region as well as helping your shampoo bars stay dry and last longer.

Whether you’re heading out on an adventure, travelling to the gym, or just want to do your bit in the bathroom, do something (carbon) positive today and pop a Cork Pot into your basket!

Product info here: https://www.lush.com/uk/en/p/cork-pot-product-holder

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As the world clamours to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in an effort to slow climate change, the cork oak tree is standing tall. Cork oaks are one of the few commercial forests not felled for harvesting.

This means the cork tree’s carbon storage capacity keeps increasing during the 200 or more years the trees can live.

More in this new article from BBC Future – https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20221013-why-the-humble-wine-cork-is-being-reinvented

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Cork oak forests and the natural cork products derived from them are a major carbon sink and have an important role in sustainable development.

The crucial role of cork in carbon dioxide retention, preserving biodiversity and combating desertification was highlighted in the report on sustainability, published recently by the company.

In comparison, the mining and extraction of non-renewable resources such as petrochemicals and bauxite (used to produce aluminium) have very significant potentially negative impacts on ecosystems. Indeed, the report says, the primary production of a ton of aluminium emits on average 12 tons of CO2 and the industrial process of transforming aluminium into a final product (e.g. screwcap) gives rise to further CO2 emissions. Further high energy consumption is also required if the plastics and aluminium end products are eventually recycled.

Cork on the other hand is a renewable and non-polluting resource produced every 9 years without damaging the cork tree. It is 100% recyclable and requires very low energy consumption since a significant part of the energy needs for production is satisfied using biomass.

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For further information please visit: Cork for Elephants.

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With real birdsong, colour posters of trees, birds and animals to download and mono versions for colouring too, the new Planetcork.org website has lots of useful information for teaching sustainability linked to one of nature’s most beneficial trees. This website explains the unique features of the cork oak tree: its history, the geography of where the cork oak trees grow, and pictures of the flora and fauna that inhabit the cork forests around the Western Mediterranean Sea. PlanetCork.org explains the importance of trees generally in absorbing carbon dioxide and providing us with a valuable source of oxygen. It also explains why Cork trees are unique, are never cut down and provide us with a truly sustainable and renewable resource that is recyclable and biodegradable and has been used for millennia because of its special properties.

The unique properties of cork stimulate children to think about its physical properties such as lightweight and buoyancy, compression and expansion and thermal absorption which is why this material has so many applications even today in buildings, car engines, spacecraft and of course cricket balls, badminton shuttlecocks and it can even be used to make fashion items such as handbags or I-phone cases. All is explained on the website and there are video films showing the cork harvest which can be viewed on Corkie’s Facebook and YouTube page too.

To stimulate children further, the Cork Federation is encouraging teachers to send in pictures of items made from used corks and is offering as teaching aids a sample of cork bark as it comes from the tree showing how bottle stoppers are produced. Just send in your request with the postal address to: info@cork-products.co.uk

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Portugal is the world’s largest producer of cork used in wine bottles but the density of trees in cork forests has fallen in recent years, threatening increased desertification as the dry, hot climate of the south moves north.

Because cork trees are not cut down and water is retained in the forests because of falling leaves, they are uniquely environmentally sustainable, WWF said in a study. The bark of individual trees is cut for cork only every nine years.

The group said in a study carried out together with the country’s Higher Institute of Agronomy that a 20 percent expansion of the current area of cork trees could stop desertification at its current limits by 2020.Failure to expand cork forests and tree density could raise desertification levels to more than one kilometre per year.”

Cork trees have every potential to act as a barrier to desertification,” said Angela Morgado, communications and fundraising officer at the WWF in Portugal.

Due to cork trees’ ability to grow in relatively dry climates and if average temperatures continue rising due to global warming, the WWF recommended that cork be planted further north in Portugal to reduce the threat of desertification.

Cork currently represents 2.7 percent of Portugal’s exports and the cork industry employs up to 14,000 people.(Reporting by Axel Bugge) *Story Date:* 18/6/2008 All Contents (c) Reuters News Service 2008

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