1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:10,960 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogle Bomb here. You may or may not have 3 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: heard a rumor that the world supply of cork is dwindling. Cork, 4 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: which is made from the bark of the cork oak 5 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,760 Speaker 1: tree or querk asu bear, is used in a variety 6 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: of products, the most common being wine stoppers. So is 7 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: there any truth behind the idea that we're running out 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: of cork? Not at all. There's actually an abundance of 9 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: this totally sustainable, eco friendly material. In fact, if you've 10 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: ever traveled to the rural areas of southern Portugal, where 11 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:40,800 Speaker 1: most of the world's cork oak trees are grown, you've 12 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: seen firsthand that the supposed shortage of the cork supply 13 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: is a myth. Insiders in the cork industry, which employs 14 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: and estimated thirty thousand workers in varied jobs, confirmed that 15 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: there are plenty of cork oak trees to be found 16 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: in the sustainable and environmentally harvested cork forests of Portugal. 17 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,280 Speaker 1: Regular planting in shores continuous and steady supply, but the 18 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: process requires some patients. A newly planted cork oak trees 19 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: need on average more than twenty five years of growth 20 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: before their bark can first be harvested. Farmers must then 21 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,480 Speaker 1: wait another nine or ten years until the trees fully 22 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: recover and are ready to have their outer bark layer 23 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: harvested again. This approach yield a high quality raw material 24 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:24,960 Speaker 1: while enabling the trees to live about three hundred years. 25 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,960 Speaker 1: The takeaway there are said to be enough cork trees 26 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: today in the sustainable cork forests of Portugal to last 27 00:01:32,360 --> 00:01:36,759 Speaker 1: more than a hundred years. Translation, there's enough harvestable cork 28 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: right this very moment to seal all of the wine 29 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: bottles produced in the world for the coming century. So 30 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:46,320 Speaker 1: what led to the rumor that the world is running out? 31 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: In nine the Portuguese government began to protect the cork 32 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: tree by law from improper or out of season harvest 33 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: because officials were worried the developers would clear out the 34 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: cork forests to build. To stop this from happening, the 35 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: government declared the cork oak tree endangered at that time. 36 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:08,080 Speaker 1: But more recently, something that might have fueled the rumble 37 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:10,679 Speaker 1: about a cork shortage or that cork is endangered and 38 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: at risk of extinction, is that many companies in the 39 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: wine industry began switching from traditional cork stoppers to plastic 40 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: corks and screw caps. The reason a cork is much 41 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: more expensive compared with the alternatives because it can be 42 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: harvested only once a year by skilled farmers. Plus, using 43 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: plastic or screw cap alternatives to cork pretty much removes 44 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,560 Speaker 1: the danger of losing wine due to cork rot. That's 45 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:37,679 Speaker 1: when natural cork starts falling apart and let's air into 46 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 1: the wine bottle, which can ruin the wine. And that's 47 00:02:40,919 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: really one of the two things you're supposed to be 48 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: looking for when a server pours you. The first taste 49 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,640 Speaker 1: of a bottle at first, is it the bottle you ordered? Second? 50 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: Is at vinegar instead of wine. The changeover to cork 51 00:02:52,720 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: alternatives started happening in force in the nine nineties, but 52 00:02:56,919 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: wineries had to convince people and wine drinkers in particul 53 00:03:00,120 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: ler that it would be more beneficial to use the 54 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,239 Speaker 1: plastic corks or screw caps to seal wine bottles rather 55 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:10,120 Speaker 1: than cork stoppers. It's possible that some wineries began insinuating 56 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: that cork is endangered so that more people might be 57 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,960 Speaker 1: willing to choose wines sealed with screw caps. The truth 58 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,240 Speaker 1: is the cork tree is not endangered, and because some 59 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: winters prefer screw caps for various reasons, that's actually led 60 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: to a decrease in demand for cork wine stoppers. So 61 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: there's actually an abundance of cork and cork oak trees. 62 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 1: And here's the cool part. That abundance has opened up 63 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: a world of opportunity for the impermeable, lightweight, and moisture 64 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: resistant material. Today, cork handbags and wallets are becoming popular 65 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: leather alternatives, and cork is also used in flooring, shoes 66 00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: and other vegan accessories. Today's episode was written by Windy 67 00:03:53,400 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: Bowman and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is production 68 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: of iHeart Radios How Stuff Works. For more on this 69 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: and lots of other plentiful topics, visit our home planet 70 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com. And for more podcasts for 71 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: my heart radio, visit that I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 72 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.