General Chat

Having been asked on another thread if I couldn't find a product to use as a deodorant that represented fewer air-miles, I have been looking on another site that has another natural form of deodorant that comes in a cork package.

It seems a shame that we don't tend to use corks in wine bottles anymore because the site tells me that the cork oak is the only tree on earth that is unharmed by having it's bark removed. This is carried out once every nine years and that makes it remove three times as much CO2 from the air than it already does and when it has its bark on it removes thirty per cent more than other trees.

Must be more ecologically sound than smelting metal for screwtops.

It is also a shame that bottles are not glass anymore with refunds on return as in the days of my youth. Unfortunately they have been too often used as weapons for the morons. :-(

You can't legislate for morons though can you?

Even if you don't give refunds on bottles (that nobody would ever dream of pinching from the back of the pub would they, hem,hem), cullet is infinitely re-useable and, even if it is still here in two hundred years time, it will still be being melted down and re-formed.

Never Sharron :-0 ;-). Much better than the awful plastic that causes so many problems.

Sharron ............... I think they stopped using corks because screw caps are easier, but also because cork can taint the wine .........

see the following article

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/cork-trees-soft-skinned-monarchs-of-the-mediterranean-31526/

It looks like cork taint is a condition that has always existed and only affects a proportion of the harvest.

The trees are supporting a diverse array of fauna so I hope they don't destroy them.

I too hope that the trees are not destroyed .......... they're an important part of the bioflora in that region.

My mum lived in Portugal, and they had about 6 cork oaks in their garden.
The 'corkers' would arrange to come and strip them as and when necessary.
Cork is used for many other things, apart from bottle corks.
It's a darned good insulation material.
It's used to make bulletin boards as well as floor and wall tiles.

From WikiL
"Cork's low density makes it a suitable material for fishing floats and buoys, as well as handles for fishing rods (as an alternative to neoprene).
Granules of cork can also be mixed into concrete. The composites made by mixing cork granules and cement have lower thermal conductivity, lower density and good energy absorption.
Cork is used in musical instruments, particularly woodwind instruments, where it is used to fasten together segments of the instrument, making the seams airtight. Low quality conducting baton handles are also often made out of cork.

It is also used in shoes, especially those using welt construction to improve climate control and comfort.

Because it is impermeable and moisture-resistant, cork is often used as an alternative to leather in handbags, wallets and other fashion items.

Cork can be used to make bricks for the outer walls of houses, as in Portugal's pavilion at Expo 2000.

On November 28, 2007, the Portuguese national postal service CTT issued the world's first postage stamp made of cork.

Cork is used as the core of both baseballs and cricket balls. A corked bat is made by replacing the interior of a baseball bat with cork – a practice known as "corking". It was historically a method of cheating at baseball; the efficacy of the practice is now discredited.

Cork is often used, in various forms, in spacecraft heat shields and fairings.

Cork can be used in the paper pick-up mechanisms in inkjet and laser printers.

Cork is used to make later-model pith helmets.

Corks are also hung from hats to keep insects away. (See cork hat)

Cork has been used as a core material in sandwich composite construction.

Cork can be used as the friction lining material of an automatic transmission clutch, as designed in certain mopeds.

Cork can be used instead of wood or aluminium in automotive interiors.

Cork can also be used to make watch bands and faces as seen with Sprout Watches.

Cork slabs are sometimes used by orchid growers as a natural mounting material.

Cork paddles are used by glass blowers to manipulate and shape hot molten glass.

Many racing bicycles have their handlebars wrapped in cork-based tape "

Fancy a woman being able to copy that.

Amazing isn't it! :-D

..and I admitted where it came from :-D :-D :-D :-D

Just proves how useful cork is.