NEW YORK, April 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Earth Day in New York City turned out to be a banner day for the 100% Cork campaign, as hundreds of visitors to Times Square stopped by the campaign's booth to learn about natural cork's environmental, social and economic benefits and to sign the pledge to use only wine closed with natural cork.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110315/MM65231 )

More than 200 visitors (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKcFSkm5QPQ) signed the 100% Cork Pledge, which can be found on-line at www.100PercentCork.org. Pledge names will be added to petitions to be sent to major wine retailers and wineries urging them to increase their use of cork stoppers because:

1. Metal screw caps and plastic stoppers produce 10-24 times more greenhouse gases and consume as much as five times more non-renewable energy than real cork over their life-cycles, according to a peer-reviewed study by PricewaterhouseCoopers; and
2. Natural cork is recyclable, biodegradable and creates a powerful incentive for sustainable stewardship of cork oak forests while providing one of the world's richest ecosystems.
3. In addition to its environmental benefits, natural cork is also ideally suited for the preservation and presentation of wine.  Its unique physical properties create a material that is compressible, resilient and impervious, allowing wine to age properly while providing the distinctive "pop" when removed from the bottle. These properties have not been duplicated by any man-made alternatives.

Visitors to the booth received samples of cork bark and promotional materials, including a detailed guide to cork that featured cork's sustainable attributes. A surprising number of visitors did not know that cork trees are not cut down in the harvesting process. They learned that the bark from the cork oak can be removed from the same tree every ten years and that there is evidence that this process actually makes the trees stronger.

Visitors to the booth were from all over the U.S., but they all had one thing in common: They were all interested in learning more about cork. School-aged children, in particular, were happy to get the samples of the cork bark and educational materials, commenting that they could not wait to share the information with their classmates. As one child remarked, "I now have my science fair project for this year!"

About 100% Cork

100% Cork is a campaign to educate U.S. wine consumers about the benefits of choosing wine with natural cork stoppers because of cork's environmental, technical and societal advantages. The campaign seeks to recruit and organize wine consumers to request that winemakers and retailers choose natural cork over artificial stoppers. The campaign is funded by the Portuguese Cork Association and the Cork Quality Council.

SOURCE 100PercentCork.org