Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Food & Drink Uncorked: Corks v. Plastic
Posted by Edith on Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 2:05 PM
click to enlarge
As Mark mentioned below, the Sex Issue is now out, and it's titillating. But the item from the issue that's probably stuck with me the most is something that's not sexy at all, and that's kind of buried inside an article about something else.
From the Conscientious Objector's column on how to throw an eco-friendly cocktail soiree:
While you're at it, make sure you buy wines with real cork stoppers — not only are they compostable and biodegradeable, cork is an infinitely renewable resource, and cork plantations are remarkable for their bio-diversity. The harvesting of cork is one of the best models of sustainable agriculture we have — people benefit from maintaining a healthy, natural landscape teeming with hundreds of species of plants and animals. Migratory and wintering birds rely on cork forests for food and shelter, and should the plastic cork take over, numerous species like the Iberian Lynx, Imperial Eagle and Barbary Deer would face certain extinction. Go cork!Maybe you guys already knew this about cork, but I had no idea. When I opened my wine bottles to discover they had plastic corks, I kind of patted myself on the back and involuntarily played a made-up scene of a pock-marked cork tree turning its frown into a smile, because of me. But not anymore. (Follow the jump for a picture of a cork tree harvest.)
And yes, this is one of those times where when you say a word enough times, it turns into a nonsense sound. Cork, cork cork. Corked. Uncorked. Cork.
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