Ode to the Winos

At the ripe old age of forty-something I belong to a "sorority" of sorts. It's a sorority of sisters that began with the commonality of living in the same neighborhood, yet we have evolved to become a group of friends who get together, drink wine and enjoy each others company. We dish about caring for and killing class pets, ailing parents, snoring spouses and the finer points of pole dancing. Ranging in age from 30's to 70's, we are varied characteristically and professionally, have children, pets or neither, are single, married, divorced. Other than being modern, like-minded, liberally thinking women from an urban territory we could potentially come from a slice of life in Any Town, USA. Except maybe Utah. We even have a moniker that we use to introduce our connection. "So, how do you know Mary?" "Oh, she's a Wino." Yes, we are a proud kind.

I assure you folks, my sentimental meandering does have a purpose. The point I'm getting at is that we drink a lot of wine which leaves a lot of bottles and corks at the end of the night. The bottles go straight into the recycling bin, yet the corks often get tossed to the trash. It turns out, however, that you can now recycle your corks. It takes a bit more work, but environmentally speaking, is worth it. Yemm & Hart, a company in Missouri, is collecting wine corks with the goal of turning them into sustainable products, most specifically wine cork tiles. At the end of 2007 they had received 3,000 lbs. of corks! Recork America, a subsidiary of Amorim and located in Larkspur, CA, is working to turn the corks into items such as flooring, ping pong paddles and insulation. Thus far they have collected over 300,000 corks. Convienently, Recork has set up donation drop offs at several Whole Foods within California, as well as many locations throughout Napa, Yountville and St. Helena. You can view a complete list of collection locations here.

Recork's motto is "Making a difference one cork at a time." I'm thinking that might also be a pretty good motto for The Winos to adopt. Now we can enjoy our favorite pastime while doing some good for Mother Earth. So, here, here. I toast to The Winos. My favorite ladies who have my back, as I do theirs. Cheers.