You open a bottle of wine, you drink the bottle of wine. Now you have an empty glass bottle and (hopefully) a natural wine cork. The glass bottle can be recycled or returned for a deposit (depending where you live) but what will you do with the wine cork? All natural wine corks can be recycled and repurposed into something else (ie. cork flooring, bulletin boards, cork wall panels). You can contact us as we'll gladly accept them or bring them to a Whole Foods market. You could also be creative and reuse those wine corks. Save them in a jar or vase for a decorative look and then, when you're ready, get busy!

Its amazing what people come up with:

From crafts such as this beautiful cork wreath:


















To displays/bulletin boards (in this case a restaurant menu board):



















To whole homes covered in wine corks:















The Calgary Zoo in Canada even uses a wine cork in their piranha aquarium:













If you'd like to share your use for natural wine corks, please let us know.

A little history about Jelinek Cork and fishing floats

During the 1970s, cork fishing floats represented a good portion of Jelinek Cork sales. The interesting thing was these floats were not new and they were not used for fishing. Rather, they were used floats and they were hung as decorations in many seafood restaurants and bars across North America.

Henry Jelinek tells us the story:
"We obtained these floats by travelling to fishing villages and towns surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. We purchased the floats used on fish nets directly from the fishermen. They were happy to sell them to us because they could use the money to buy new floats. I often think they thought we were a bit crazy buying old floats from them ... especially since they could buy new floats and still have some money left over. In most cases, the new floats were purchased from us as well .... so it was a good deal all around."

Restaurants and cork

I ate in my fair share of restaurants this holiday season - from upscale restaurants to cafes and order at the bar greasy spoons. In my restaurant hopping, I saw various types of decor.

Yes - the main reason we go to restaurants is to eat and drink however who doesn't love a restaurant with great decor? Cork with all its unique characteristics is a great fit for the decor of a restaurant - from cork flooring to cork wall panels, from cork ceilings to cork chairs.

The accessories in a restaurant also help set the mood. Beautiful cork menus (made of either cork fabric or cork wallpaper) and wine cork menu boards (made by reusing wine corks) are creative ways of displaying menus and also make interesting conversation pieces.

Cork on display in a community's fashion show.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Bridgenorth Beautification committee collects recycled wine corks as a fundraiser. One of their other fundraisers is a fashion show. This year's fashion show included a collection of cork items including a beautiful dress made with cork fabric.

Designer gown - cork fabric.

Skirt, umbrella and cap all made of cork fabric.

Recycling used wine corks helps the environment and community groups.

Bridgenorth is a small, quaint town near Peterborough, Ontario. As with all towns, Bridgenorth grew and changed. It was no longer the quaint little hamlet it had once been. So, in 1994, the Bridgepoint Beautification Committee was formed. This committee works to keep Bridgenorth beautiful and relies on funds from fundraisers to do so. Recently, this committee began using cork in their fund raising efforts.

Cork? Fund raising? How do these tie together? In an effort to keep cork stoppers out of landfills and to assist not-for-profit or community groups, Jelinek Cork launched the "We want your natural corks" fundraiser.

If you are a community group or not-for-profit that would like to help the environment and your group, there is more information about this program on the Jelinek Cork website.

If you are interested in donating your used natural wine corks to the Bridgenorth Beautification Committee and you are in the Bridgenorth/Peterborough area, please visit the Bridgenorth Beautification Committee website.

For other natural cork collection locations, visit: http://jelinek.com/collection_locs.htm

Corks of Art by artist Julie Lee

Beautiful art work created from recycled wine corks. Each piece uses approximately 600 wine corks.

Corks of Art
By artist: Julie Lee

Corks of Art is a tribute to the many celebrations and conversations that have been accompanied by wine. It is a beautiful complex of how the wines have been cultivated and produced, to preserving those special moments into a uniquely designed painting as well as other forms of art.

This concept is a 1st and only of its kind in the world, as well as the many distinctive quality of wines the Jelinek clients have savoured. I wanted to pay hommage to the "art" of making these wines. Every wine cork has been hand selected and assembled to make a "canvas-like" backdrop in order for the perfect painting to emerge.

You don't have to be a wine snob to appreciate this fine art. We all find beauty in different things, through our form of art you'll find the same appreciation and a way for you to individually relate to it.

For more information and additional products, contact Julie Lee at theworldisyours_56@msn.com. The website, www.corksofArt.com will debut in a few weeks.

Start with a cork and end with a bug - Walt's Poppers.

Walt's Poppers - amazing! Though these popping bugs are nice to look at, that's not what they are made for. These miniature works of art are true work horses - what many anglers turn to (and think of) when needing a "bug".

Walt Cary began his fly-tying career as a bartender in the 1950s. After he uncorked a bottle of champagne he went to toss out the cork when he thought what a terrible waste of a good material. With that Walt began using old corks, whittling them down and painting them. Over time, Walt perfected the art and created a very successful business. His creations involve a standard cork body which he hand selects. He sands the cork, fills in any cracks, and then puts it through a ten-step painting and finishing process which includes at least seven coats of paint. Truly a work of art - both on land and in the water!