Name that Product

Name the product that comes from this tree:

• A type of oak tree (Quercus suber)
• The tree grows in countries that run along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where there's plenty of sunshine, low rainfall and high humidity.
• The tree evolved to protect itself from the harsh conditions of the forests near the Mediterranean. These forests experience frequent droughts, brush fires and temperature fluctuations.
• This product is actually made of water-resistant cells that separate the outer bark from the delicate interior bark. It has a unique set of properties not found in any other naturally existing material.
• The tree has a thicker layer of bark than other trees that can be stripped to create this product.
• The tree may live for 200 years, which allows it, on average, to be stripped 16 times during its lifetime. The first stripping takes place after 25 years.
• The product is an inherently sustainable resource, both renewable and biodegradable.
• It is lightweight, rot resistant, fire resistant, termite resistant, impermeable to gas and liquid, soft and buoyant.
• It contains a natural waxy substance, called suberin making it impermeable to liquids and gas, and doesn’t rot. 
• It has been used in this way for more than 400 years.
• It is used in products that are found in our houses or offices. 

If you haven’t guessed yet, the product is cork from a Cork Oak Tree. It is used in flooring for houses and businesses as well as to cork wine bottles.

Tim and I have saved corks. We made a hot plate trivet, but still had many leftover. We were saving them for some future project that now we can’t really remember much about. But I found something interesting to do with them on the Internet.

Gallo Wineries website reads, “Every day, more than 8 million seniors in the US face the threat of hunger. We believe no one should go hungry, which is why we’ve partnered with the Meals On Wheels Association of America to fight hunger with the Every Cork Counts campaign.”

Every cork that is sent to them they will donate $5 to Meals on Wheels. Today’s gift was to send 200 corks to Gallo Wineries. Even though cork is a renewable and sustainable resource, it is still prudent to recycle it and help feed hungry seniors at the same time.

In Giving,

Robin