Is Cork OK to Add to the Compost?

[HoneyBerry]

I am thinking about putting some cork on my compost pile. Any objections?

[applestar]

Should be fine... Probably won't break down quickly unless you break them up first, but will serve as aerating larger aggregate and possibly microbe nest like other porous material.

[toxcrusadr]

It will sit there a long time. I've found wine corks in the compost, pretty much unaffected by the process. Won't hurt anything though, it's basically bark.

[HoneyBerry]

I guess some wine corks are not really cork. The ones that I have are real cork. I might ground them up and compost them. I'm trying to de-clutter. Corks are useful, so I'm hesitating. I might repurpose them instead.

[toxcrusadr]

Yes there are synthetics but they are easy to spot.

You can send your corks to me, I'm covering an old door with them to make an artistic recycled sound absorbing panel for the woodshop. :-] I found out I'm going to need a LOT of them. <glug-glug...hic>

[HoneyBerry]

That cork covered door sounds like a neat idea. I love repurposed stuff like that. Actually, I only have a few corks. I am going to find a use for them. Composting them is a last resort.

[rainbowgardener]

There's some really nice ideas here:

https://redesignreport.com/upcycle-this- ... ine-corks/

for fun things to do with your wine bottle corks. I've never saved them, but I might have to start.

[HoneyBerry]

Some good ideas. I love the giraffe. A friend of mine made a small memo board out of corks. It was really neat.

[toxcrusadr]

The redesign site shows a trivet but I'm not sure how the corks are held together, they look loose. One design I've see is to use a large stainless steel band clamp that you can get at the hardware store (for plumbing, etc). It holds them together and looks classy and industrial at the same time.

Off topic a bit but I do love repurposing waste. Which is what makes composting so much fun.