The many uses of cork: Cork for birds

Cork for wine bottles, cork for bulletin boards, cork for floors but cork for birds?

Yet that is exactly what the Avian Conservation Center at the Center for Birds of Prey in South Carolina uses cork for - their birds. The birds sit on natural cork perches. Cork, being a totally natural product, is healthy for the birds feet and is soft enough not to hurt their feet when they land. The cork perch is safe, stable and comfortable - perfect for the birds.

We've posted previously about another great use of cork for birds. The Albuquerque Biological Park in New Mexico created a special nest log for its Guam Kingfishers. The Kingfishers use cork blocks as their nest log. The cork, being somewhat softer, replicates their natural nests of rotten logs. The cork is easy for the birds to excavate and create their nests.

Another use of cork for birds can be right in your backyard - bird houses made of cork. These natural cork bird houses look nice hanging from trees and give your backyard birds a place to call home.

The many uses of cork: tacklebox restoration

This tackle box was recently restored to its original beauty. The lures and tackle box date back to the 1920s - 1940s. In order to help preserve and protect the wood used in the lures and the box, cork was used.

CR-177 cork sheets used to protect the antique wood.

Recycled cork grain in the garden

Cork is the ultimate environmentally friendly product. Even cork that has been used can be given a new life. You may already know of wine cork recycling - where used wine corks are collected and then re-purposed into other cork products including flooring, building material or used in crafting. Another cork product that can be re-purposed is granulated cork (or cork grain). Cork grain is often the bi-product of wine cork production. The grain is then used in many applications including as a stand-in for dirt on movie/theatrical sets. Once the grain has been used for its intended purpose, it can actually be used again. Among other uses, it works and looks great in a garden - offering texture and weed control. 

From monastery to Korek Jelínek Czech headquarters, the story of an historic building.

Korek Jelínek Czech Republic is headquartered in the city of Rychnov u Jablonce nad Nisou. This  year the historic building that houses Korek Jelínek is celebrating its 100th year anniversary. This is the story of this remarkable building and the many changes it has seen. If only walls could talk.

Monastery on the left (before reconstruction in 1975).

The building was constructed in 1912-1913 and began its life as a monastery. The sisters wanted to establish a nursery school and they did helping lead the women to a better life. The building served as a nursery school until 1985. The building then served as a creche until 1992 and then the building became part of a nearby grammar school - including after school childcare, school library and activity clubs. In the 1990s the house was no longer used by the school and the little shops in it struggled for business. It was around then that Jelinek Cork Group saw the building for what it was and stepped in to restore it and make it the home for Korek Jelínek. In 1995 construction began on the old monastery and by 1996 it was operating as Korek Jelínek. The inside of this historic building is well decorated (for both decor and functionality) with cork!

Current Korek Jelínek building.

The Korek Jelínek building -as it looks today.

Cork Creativity

Cork and creativity - the possibilities are endless.

Many times we have no idea what happens to the cork products after the customer receives them but sometimes a customer will send us pictures of their creations. We love to see pictures and hear details of the finished product.

We have a customer who uses cork balls (a ball made of cork - available in many different sizes) to create jewelery. The last time we saw the cork, it was simply cork. We then received this picture and see the cork has been transformed into so much more. With its light-weight and natural properties, cork is an ideal material in jewelery production. By seeing these fabulous cork earrings, one would never guess cork composes the body of this "spider".

Spider earrings - made with cork.

Stay tuned for more cork creations ...

A terrarium made of re-used material.

Recently, a few classes at the local elementary school were building terrariums as part of their science unit. They decided to use recycled material for the containers. The large 2 litre plastic bottles would work perfectly. They would cut these in half, insert the desired material (rocks, soil, plants, water) and then seal them back together with tape. They ran into a problem when it was realized most of the original tops of the bottles were lost. So, they decided a wine cork would work. Sure enough, the recycled wine corks fit into the opening of the bottle and, when inserted, closed off their pop bottle terrariums. Below is the finished product. As a side note, months later the terrariums have yet to be watered and the plants are all thriving.

Sealed with a cork!

Reused materials make an excellent terrarium.

Keeping active at Jelinek Cork

Those who work together also like to play together and that is exactly how we feel at Jelinek Cork. We work hard and play hard! With locations all over the world we rely heavily on technology to communicate but we never lose track of the value of face-to-face communication. When we meet up in person, we like to make it fun and to build a team regardless of where we physically work and reside. What better way to build a team and have fun than with physical activity. This fall, Jelinek Cork staff from our various global locations have come together on a few occasions to participate in fun, team building, athletic events.  

Bratislava, Slovakia: Bratislava River Park Night Run.
Jelinek Cork participants from four

Jelinek Cork locations: Slovakia, Canada, Portugal and Czech Republic.

Mountain climbing in the High Tatras mountain region of Slovakia.

Jelinek Cork participants from four Jelinek Cork locations: Slovakia, Canada, Portugal and Czech Republic.

Savannah, Georgia, USA: 4^th Annual United Way Turkey Trot. Jelinek Cork participants: Canada & USA.