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Source and environmental benefits
Cork is the bark of the cork oak (Quercus suber L), that grows in Mediterranean regions such as Spain, Italy, France, Morocco, Algeria and, most particularly, in Portugal, where there are more than 720 thousand hectares of cork forests.
It is an astonishing tree, very long-lived and with an enormous capacity for regeneration. It can live up to 200 years, despite its bark being stripped around 16 times during its lifetime, at nine-year intervals. So each time cork is harvested, the tree is not killed and cork products are recyclable and reusable making cork a perfectly sustainable and environmentally product.
So the ecological footprint from its extraction until the final product is incredibly low compared to the industry average of plstic production. Therefore when you hold a cork object in your hand you notice that you are holding a bit of nature and not some synthetic unhealthy material.That'sthe beauty of cork. On the other hand betause cork is sustainable, the more people buy it, the more the cork industry needs to plant more cork oaktrees,and that creates acycle that is healthy for the environment of our planet. So Ssupporting cork is supporting nature.
Just about every tree has an outer layer of cork bark, but the cork oak (Quercus Suber) is the primary source of most cork products in the world. These trees primarily grow in countries that run along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea,where there's plenty of sunshine, low rainfalland high humidity.
The countries that produce the most cork include Portugal, Algeria, Spain,Morocco, France,Italy and Tunisia. So,why does the cork oak have a thicker layer of cork bark than other trees? The tree evolved to protect itself from the harsh conditions of the forests near the Meditrranean.These forests experiere frequent droughts, brush fires and temperature fluctuations.
