LOS ANGELES, April 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- 100% Cork
(www.100percentcork.org), a global campaign to raise awareness of
cork's environmental benefits, today announced that it is launching
a social media campaign in honor of Earth
Day to help plant cork oak saplings in Melgaco, Portugal. The campaign is being run in
partnership with two projects (Common Forest and Green Cork) of
Portugal's biggest environmental
organization, QUERCUS-Associacao Nacional de Conservacao da
Natureza.
Cork oak trees are one of the world's most eco-friendly natural
resources, providing refuge for rare and endangered species and
reducing greenhouse gases --14 million metric tons of carbon
dioxide is captured annually by cork oak forests in the
Mediterranean. So, every time you buy a bottle of wine sealed with
a natural cork stopper, you're helping to sustain one of the
world's most biodiverse forests and protect an extraordinary
ecosystem.
Cork oaks also yield enormous economic benefits: more than
100,000 people in the Mediterranean maintain the forests, harvest
the bark from trees, and prepare the bark for use in myriad
products such as wine stoppers, footwear and building flooring.
Harvesting does not damage trees. In fact, it makes them healthier,
and allows them to live longer and continue benefiting the
environment.
The social media campaign provides an opportunity for anyone to
plant trees – free of charge and with virtually no effort. Each
time someone "Likes" 100% Cork on Facebook or follows 100% Cork on
Instagram, 100% Cork will donate a cork oak sapling to be planted
in Melgaco, Portugal. Common
Forest, an initiative aimed at preserving and protecting cork oak
forests in Portugal, and Green
Cork, a cork recycling project in Portugal, will plant the saplings from
April 25-27, 2014.
"We are very excited to be partnering with 100% Cork in this
important Earth Day campaign," stated
Paulo Magalhaes, Coordinator of
Green Cork and Common Forest. "Each indigenous tree planted, such
as the cork oak, is an important contribution to the ecological
structure that will be required to underpin the future."
"This campaign provides a unique opportunity for our friends in
the U.S. and Canada to use social
media tools to help preserve Portugal's cork forests," noted Joao Ferreira, president of the Portuguese Cork
Association (APCOR). "Preserving cork forests allow us to make
products like wine stoppers that are great for the environment
because they are 100% natural and recyclable."
Help the Environment, Plant a Cork Tree!
Who:
Anyone can "Like" 100% Cork on Facebook or follow 100% Cork on
Instagram.
https://www.facebook.com/100PercentCork
http://instagram.com/100percentcork#
What: For every "Like" on Facebook or Follow on
Instagram, 100% Cork will donate a cork oak sapling. (No cost to
participants.) Participants should continue to post all things cork
on Instagram using #100percentcork.
When: Now through April 30,
2014.
Where: Some cork oak saplings will be planted in
Melgaco, Portugal, April 25-27, 2014. The rest will be planted after
October, during the regular planting season.
About 100% Cork
100% Cork is a campaign to educate
North American wine consumers, retailers and wineries about the
benefits of choosing wine with natural cork closures because of
cork's environmental, technical and societal advantages. More
information can be found at
www.100percentcork.org and https://www.facebook.com/100PercentCork
About Common Forest
Common Forest (Floresta
Comun) is an initiative to preserve and enhance the
environmental benefits of Portuguese indigenous forests, including
cork oak forests, which are the largest in terms of area and
ecological importance. More information can be found at
http://www.florestacomum.org/
About Green Cork
Green Cork recycles wine cork
stoppers in Portugal and partners
with Common Forest on cork oak forest preservation. Green Cork was
developed in partnership with several entities, including Amorim,
the world's largest producer of cork products, wineries and wine
producers in Portugal. More
information can be found at http://www.greencork.org/
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