Learning about cork

This week's blog assignment for my environmental studies class was to record everything that I used or came in contact with that came from a natural source. The guidelines for what exactly is considered 'natural' was pretty vague, to be left open to our own individual interpretation.We were to place our list of items into 8 categories. These are as follows.
A) Food and drink

• coffee
• sugar
• eggs
• salad - lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, olives
• Naked fruit juice
•  cork from a wine bottle, along with the actual wine
• beans
• water

B)Housing and other Buildings

• wood
• brick
• leather couches

C) Transportation and Roads

• gasoline
• asphalt

D)Clothing

• leather shoes
• jeans
• cotton tee shirt and socks
•  cotton scar

E)School supplies

• paper
• pencils
•  

F)Personal Care products

• burts bees lip balm - (although it is slightly processed, most of the ingredients are natural) beeswax, sunflower oil, coconut oil, lanolin, comfrey root, vitamin E, honey, rosemary leaf oil
• witch hazel
• bar soap
• bare essentials make-up
• face lotion

G)Leisure activities

• chalk for rock climbing

H)Other 

The next part of this assignment was to pick out one of the items I listed and do some research on it to find out its origins and impact upon the environment. The item I chose to investigate the cork from the wine bottle. I knew beforehand that cork comes from a tree, but I didn't know which one or the impact of harvesting the cork. I have seen that some wineries have begun to use plastic corks instead of the natural cork and wondered if the reasoning behind that was practical, environmental, or maybe both. I have learned that the cork used in wine bottles is from a tree called the cork tree (pretty straight forward) a species of oak, and it's scientific name is Quercus Suber. This tree grows in areas in Spain and Portugal and the older it is the more cork it produces. After the processing of the bark, the part of the tree that is used, only 40% of the final product ends up being usable. The remaining cork is then ground up to be used in other compounds to make things like bulletin boards. The cork can only be cultivated around every 10 years so maintaining the health of the tree is vital. The strips of cork are removed by hand, no machinery is allowed to be used which is a positive thing for the environment. This system is pretty much the same one that has been used for hundreds of years because it is one of the most effective methods for its purpose. The harvesting industry employs more than 15,000 workers to harvest the cork as well as seasonal employees to maintain the forests. These forests seem to be fairly well cared for in order to maintain the profitable industry. The reason that this is used is to create an air tight seal for the wine bottles so that oxygen does not get into the bottle and aerate (get oxygen into) the wine before it is ready to be served. For the most part after corks are removed from the bottle there is no farther use for them and they get thrown away. I have seen people use them for things such as making art, but that is not a very important use. This product is, overall, a want and not a need. The cork is, however, a biodegradable and renewable substance. That is more than can be said for the new plastic cork stoppers some wineries are using. Wine industries demand 13 billion cork stoppers annually. I couldn't find much information on the methods that cork is shipped, but I am assuming special care would have to be taken in order for the cork to remain dry and free of germs and molds. It is a very light weight product though so I would think that shipping them would be minimal. In regard to the impact on the biodiversity after the extraction of the cork, a recent study of the birds that inhabit the area shows that the harvesting is relatively well balanced for the ecosystem. It indicates that while in the first year after harvesting the richness of certain bark dwelling insects would decrease and thus so would the richness of the birds that prey on them, but overall the biodiversity is well maintained. The threat of plastic bottle stoppers is becoming the norm in wine industries would lead to the eventual end of the cork harvesting industry and thus the forests that are maintaining this biodiversity would be put to different uses such as housing or other agricultural farming. Knowing this I think I would have to say that I will do my best to stick with real cork rather than the plastic ones. I was surprised that this product is better environmentally that the new synthetic products, I started out my research with the idea that the reality would be the other way around and cork harvesting would be bad for the environment.

Sources:
"Cork Institute of America--Harvesting Cork." Cork Institute of America. Web. 07 Mar. 2012. <http://www.corkinstitute.com/harvest.html>.

"History of Cork." Lisa Shea's WineIntro. Web. 07 Mar. 2012. <http://wineintro.com/history/glassware/cork.html>.

Leal, Ana, Ricardo Correia, José Granadeiro, and Jorge Palmeirim. "Impact of Cork Extraction on Birds: Relevance for Conservation of Mediterranean Biodiversity." EBSCO Host. Biologinal Conversation, May 2011. Web. 7 Mar. 2012. <http://ezproxy.rcc.edu:2059/ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=24&sid=05162bf3-f70c-471a-a740-6304bba662f0%40sessionmgr113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=8gh&AN=60789283>.