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Woman drinks wine, unwittingly threatens endangered animals
I love wine. I really do. And I’ve drunk a fair amount of it during the weeks since I started my plastic project. But it wasn’t until I read this article a couple of days ago that it occurred to me that some of the wine corks I’ve pulled have been made of plastic! And those plastic corks didn’t even make it into my weekly tallies. Good lord, was I drunk or something??? How could I have missed them?
Fortunately, I like to save my wine stoppers, so I was able to pull out my collection and count them up. For the record, there are 31 cork stoppers and 11 plastic stoppers: 26% plastic!
So why are plastic corks, in addition to all the usual plastic problems, threatening endangered animals? Because they compete with natural Mediterranean cork forests, which not only provide humans with stoppers for their various libations, but also provide unique habitat for some of the world’s more unusual creatures, such as the Iberian Imperial Eagle, the Barbary Deer, and Iberian Lynx, which according to Wikipedia, “is the world’s most threatened species of cat.”
You can read more about the Mediterranean cork forests and WWF’s campaign to save them, as well as watch a beautiful video showing how cork is harvested and the people and animals whose lives depend on it.
Also for the record, the Boissonneau Chateau Moulin de Ferrand Bordeaux Blanc, of which I just bought a whole case, is delicious… and has plastic stoppers. Well, they’ll be in my weekly tally until they’re gone, and then I’ll find a plastic-free crisp white wine to enjoy. Any suggestions? (Not crazy for chardonnay.)
Comments
Comments
6 Comments on Woman drinks wine, unwittingly threatens endangered animals
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terrible person on
Fri, 10th Aug 2007 10:39 am
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Holly on
Fri, 10th Aug 2007 12:35 pm
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terrible person on
Fri, 10th Aug 2007 12:49 pm
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Eco-Mod on
Mon, 11th Feb 2008 6:48 pm
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Jason on
Sat, 1st Mar 2008 7:02 pm
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jennconspiracy on
Fri, 16th May 2008 3:23 pm
I thought corks came from Cork in Ireland.
You should start a new campaign with the slogan, “Don’t complain! Put a cork in it!”
Huh. I never knew that. Thanks!
Here is a story about a new report on the effects of Bisphenol A (BPA) leaching out of plastic bottles.
On the topic of plastic wine corks…I’ve given you a mention over at The Eco-Modernist. Great minds think alike as well since you previously posted over at another blog I have regarding saying NO to PVC shower curtains!
http://www.marigoldlane.com/2007/12/be-healthy-say-no-to-vinyl-plastic.html
I applaud anyone who is looks out and cares for God’s creation. Plastic corks don’t seem right. I hope this is not going to be a trend.
I heard on NPR that China is going to stop handing out plastic bags because it causes a lot of problems ( like clog drain pipes) and when you X that by a billion times that is a lot of plastic.
Crisp white wines – how about a viognier? There are some that are sweet but they are mostly crisp and apple/pear without the oaky chardonnay taste.
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