Re-using wine corks

Ever had corks left over after a bottle of wine and wondered what to do with them? Well our volunteers from Shropshire Master Composters have come up with some top tips to give your corks a corking new lease of life.

1. Corkboard: this is a fun activity to do with the kids on a rainy day.  Simply remove the glass from an old picture frame then glue corks to the backing and you have a corkboard. 

2. Trivet: Cork absorbs heat well and makes perfect trivets. You can style corks in any size or shape you need and then hot glue them together. You can then place hot serving dishes on the trivet.

3. Plant labels: If you’re sick of your garden tags blowing away or withering when rain falls, use a cork.  Just place a skewer in the end of the cork and it will help you mark your herbs and vegetables.

4. Place card holders: Corks make for a fun and inexpensive place cardholder. Simply cut them in half using a utility knife and then slice a small slit in them for the card. Another method you can use, is to cut a little off the bottom to make them stand upright and then cut the little slit in them for the card.


5. Floor saver: using a bread knife, slice the cork into round pads and simply glue them to the bottom of furniture so it won’t scratch your floors. A simple cost-effective and sustainable alternative to store bought felt pads.

6. Table décor: Use your favorite clear glass vase to collect corks, it makes for an interesting decorative piece and give you a place to keep them until you have enough to choose a project.

7. Barbecue: Use them as briquettes on the barbecue they burn well.


8. Plant drainage: Use them in the bottom of plant pots as an alternative to crockery / polysterene. The lightweight cork will help with plant drainage.

9. Composting: this is controversial for home composters because wine corks take absolutely ages to break down being naturally water proof they really do struggle to compost and take literally years to fully rot.  However they do go eventually as they are a natural product so technically they can go in the compost heap.

On a final note, make sure your cork is real cork! Synthetic plastic corks will not decompose like natural cork and will not work well for the options above either.