As a native North Carolinian, I’m proud to report on the explosive ‘spirit’ industry located in state made up of breweries, wineries and distilleries. The hardest part of writing this post was picking winners amongst hundreds of awesome businesses going the extra mile to create uniquely delicious beverages while keeping a watchful eye to their energy consumption, water usage and overall impact on their local economies.

Start by keeping track of your waste and then over time minimizing your waste output. This year join one of TerraCycle's Brigade's, which includes an Energy Bar Wrapper Brigade, Cork Brigade, Yogurt Brigade, and Bear Naked Granola Brigades.

When we gather together next month in Portland, more than 350 of us will sip, blog, and share the latest and greatest in the world of wine. Throughout the weekend, corks will be “popped” and wines will be poured – leaving a huge number of used closures and empty bottles that might easily be tossed into the nearest trash can. Luckily, you will have better options! Our host hotel, the DoubleTree Portland, is Oregon’s First Green Seal Certified hotel. We will have bottle recycling containers located near our conference area and ask that you help us make sure used bottles get in the proper containers.

I USA er der et meget spændende koncept ved navn TerraCycle, hvor amerikanerne kan "købe aflad" for deres forbrugsfest ved at sende sorteret skrald til firmaet, der så "upcycler" det til brugbare ting.

Total Wine & More has teamed up with TerraCycle, the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of nonrecyclable post-consumer waste. Partnering additionally with Nomacorc, the global leader in alternative wine closures, Total Wine & More will place collection bins in select stores where customers can drop off wine closures to be “upcycled” into eco-friendly cork boards, all produced via low-energy-consumption means by the TerraCycle Cork Brigade program. Beginning in California, Total Wine & More hopes to expand the program throughout many of its 73 wine superstores across 11 states.

Total Wine & More has teamed up with TerraCycle, the world’s leader in the collection and reuse of nonrecyclable post-consumer waste. Partnering additionally with Nomacorc, the global leader in alternative wine closures, Total Wine & More will place collection bins in select stores where customers can drop off wine closures to be “upcycled” into eco-friendly cork boards, all produced via low-energy-consumption means by the TerraCycle Cork Brigade program. Beginning in California, Total Wine & More hopes to expand the program throughout many of its 73 wine superstores across 11 states.

About 55 million cases of bottled wine are sold in California each year. Of those, about 70% are closed with cork stoppers, 16% with metal screw tops and 14% with plastic, according to Amorim, the Portuguese cork supplier that runs the cork-reclamation group ReCork. Most wine stoppers are wrapped in “foil” that covers the top of the bottle, some of which is made from a mixture of lead and tin (on some older bottles, because that wrapper was banned in 1996 by the Food and Drug Administration); other covers are made from polylaminate aluminum and most from a heat-shrink plastic — usually polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride, a.k.a. PVC. In L.A., the foils, or wrappers, are not recyclable because the many materials from which they are made are too difficult to distinguish. The only exception is the metal wire cages on champagne bottle tops, which are recyclable.

SECTION: HOME; Features Desk; Part E; Pg. 7 About 55 million cases of bottled wine are sold in California each year. Of those, about 70% are closed with cork stoppers, 16% with metal screw tops and 14% with plastic, according to Amorim, the Portuguese cork supplier that runs the cork-reclamation group ReCork. Most wine stoppers are wrapped in "foil" that covers the top of the bottle, some of which is made from a mixture of lead and tin (on some older bottles, because that wrapper was banned in 1996 by the Food and Drug Administration); other covers are made from polylaminate aluminum and most from a heat-shrink plastic -- usually polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride, a.k.a. PVC.

We’ve talked before about how eco friendly wine corks are, but one of the reasons they’re so good for the environment is because they’re recyclable (unlike plastic caps or corks). There are also a ton of places to send corks for recycling, so save them up when you drink and when you’re box is full (which for us is weekly) you can connect up with ReCORK America, Yemm & Hart, Korks 4 Kids or TerraCycle.