In Tampa Florida a fine wine store is designing one of the largest cork recycling initiatives in the state. Why cork? Cork is a natural product that can be recycled into many things, such as floor and wall tiles, car engine gaskets, and even fishing rod handles.

Companies such as TerraCycle and Yemm & Hart seek out recycled cork to create these products and then sell the products to large retailers like Target, and other office supply stores or direct online via their website.

ABC Fine Wine & Spirits has set up drop off boxes in each of their 1,500 locations across the state of Florida so that anyone can come in and drop off their wine corks. And many have done just that, but in large quantities. As mentioned on their cork recycling page, a guest delivered approximately 1,400 corks to their Winter Park store on September 22nd, 2009. That’s a whole lotta corks.

In addition to keeping the corks out of landfils, ABC donates .02 per cork to several charities they work with. A rep from ABC mentioned that it may not seem like alot, “but if ABC stores collect just ten corks each day in each store, that’s more than $10,000 a year in donations”.

So with the help of consumers who bring back their used corks, to Terra Cycle who processes the corks and turns them into upcycled beautiful things, ABC is hoping to make a BIG difference in Florida…and beyond.

For more information and to find out how you can help, visit ABC Fine Wine.

via Tampa Bay Online