Heidi Ackerman at Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion week

Toronto Alternative Arts and Fashion Week has been on since April 21. On Friday April 24 2009, Heidi Ackerman's new collection of Avant Garde and eco-friendly fashions will be featured.

Heidi Ackerman uses eco-friendly materials including cork fabric in her designs. Jelinek Cork is proud to sponsor Heidi Ackerman as she continues to push the boundaries of Canadian Fashion while honouring her commitment to responsible and eco-friendly design.

Jelinek Cork at the Halton Eco Festival

This past Saturday, Jelinek Cork was pleased to be a part of the 9th Annual Halton Eco Festival in Oakville, Ontario. This free-to-attend environmental fair brought visitors from around the GTA to listen to speakers address sustainability as well as visit exhibitors booths and learn about their "green" products and services.

At the Jelinek Cork booth, visitor response was amazing. Many visitors knew of cork only as a bulletin board or wine stopper. Others were more knowledgeable about the many uses of cork and many already use cork in their homes - on their walls or floors. All visitors were impressed with the versatility of cork and the many products created from this natural and sustainable product. Along with cork fabric and cork hand bags, Jelinek Cork flooring was of great interest. The Jelinek Cork Comfort Line of cork flooring was a huge hit. The Comfort Line has a natural vegetable oil finish which protects the floor while maintaining the natural look and feel of cork.

We heard many great comments from our visitors on Saturday. Some of the more common ones were,
"Wow! This has to be one of the most sustainable flooring options."
"I had no idea you could do so much with cork!"
"It's SO comfortable underfoot! and warm!"

We love cork!

Thanks to the Oakville Community Centre For Peace, Ecology And Human Rights for organizing this event.

Interesting Uses for Cork #4

Here is another interesting use for cork - the bee and honey industry.

Cork and the Queen Bee:
When a queen bee is to be introduced to a hive of bees, it needs to be done carefully. The queen bee is foreign to the other bees and could be seen as an intruder to the hive if she is not introduced slowly. To do this, the queen bee is kept in her own cage, known as the queen cage. One side of the queen cage is closed with a cork. The other side is sealed with bee candy and sometimes another cork. The cork on the side with the bee candy is removed and the queen cage is inserted within the frames of the hive. The other cork is left in place to keep the queen from escaping. In a couple of days, the worker bees will have eaten through the bee candy and released the queen bee into the hive.

Cork and Observation Hives:
Sometimes bee keepers want to keep the bees out of the observation hive. This can be done by using tapered cork stoppers to plug the passage of bees into or out of the observation hive.

Cork and Honey:
There are many ways to package and sell honey. One method that is both natural, functional and decorative is to use a natural cork stopper. Being all-natural, cork works and looks great in the container.

Note: I am not a bee keeper however I love honey!