Join GiveNow to access My Giving
- view all your donations
- setup regular donations
- get donation summaries for your tax return
Give Corks
It takes 43 years for a cork tree to yield its first wine cork - but just seconds to turn it into a throw-away item. Before 1990, discarded corks were destined for landfill. Approximately 550 tonnes of cork is imported into Australia annually, of which, still less than 5% is recycled.
Cork is natural, renewable, completely biodegradable and recyclable. By using recycled corks to manufacture other products, you are saving resources and minimising carbon emissions. Cork can be re-used to manufacture a range of natural, recycled products.
GiveNow has compiled the following register of places and organisations where you can donate your corks.
• The Body Shop - on behalf of Girl Guides Australia
• The Watershed is a Sustainability Resource Centre
The Body Shop
About : The Body Shop is an activist organisation committed to positive social and environmental change. We campaign passionately about the values we are committed to.
The Body Shop believes it has a responsibility to speak out on human rights issues as wide ranging as child labour and the plight of indigenous Australians. The Body Shop ensures its products are sourced and produced where human and civil rights are respected.
Donate : To donate corks to The Body Shop, just drop them off at your local Body Shop retailer. All funds from corks donated to the Body Shop go towards the Australian Gil Guides.
Address : Cnr Wellington and Jacksons roads Mulgrave, VIC, 3170
Phone : 03 9565 0500
Website : www.thebodyshop.com.au
Friends of the Zoo
About : Friends of the Zoo (FOTZ) began collecting corks in October 1998 to help in raising funds towards The Trail of the Elephants and the campaign has been an outstanding success. We find it extremely gratifying to be receiving such excellent support from the community as reflected in the level of cork donations.
As the Zoo is a conservation-focused organisation, the Zoos' Friends are also delighted that this campaign is promoting the environmentally friendly concept of recycling.
Donate : Corks may be delivered to the special blue bins inside either of the Zoo public entrances or at the FOTZ Information Office at the Elliot Avenue entrance or at the office at the rail gate entrance.
To arrange for the pick-up of your corks for further information and/or assistance please telephone the FOTZ office during business hours. (7 days a week, 9:15am to 4:45pm)
Address : Elliot Ave, Parkville, VIC 3052
Phone : 03 9285 9300
Website : www.zoo.org.au
Email : mz@zoo.org.au
Green Collect
About : Green Collect delivers a range of innovative environmental services that promote recycling and waste minimisation. As a social enterprise, Green Collect offers new work and training opportunities to people who have experienced barriers to employment.
Donate : Green Collect has designed a cork recycling-system, making it simple for corporate, cafes and restaurants in the CBD to recycle their corks. Interested organisations should submit details by contacting Green Collect.
Address : Level 7, Central House, 174 Collins St, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Phone : 03 9663 8843
Website : www.greencollect.org
Email : www.greencollect.org/contact-us
Girl Guides Australia
About : Guides provides a non-formal education program that is a dynamic, flexible and values-based training in life skills, decision-making and leadership. It is run by trained volunteer leaders committed to helping young girls and young women grow into confident, self-respecting, responsible community members.
Donate : Guides Australia has led the way with cork recycling, starting in 1989 and inspiring girls around the world. The Guides have collected over 160 million corks since the start of the program, with more than 50 tonnes (or 1800 ten year-old girls) collected last year. The funds raised have helped Girl Guides Australia fund outdoor activities resources, train volunteer leaders and develop new programs for girls. Although recycled cork is never again used for wine stoppers, it has many other uses including flooring, coasters, gaskets, dart boards and cricket balls.
Every cork counts! Guides collect corks within an established network of collection points; hotels, restaurants, supermarkets and individuals. The Body Shop, the Bank of Queensland and many Gide Halls and BWS stores provide collection points. QANTAS also provides collection points in all Qantas airport loungers. Please visit the website for more details, including how to register your business as a collection point.
Address : PO Box 6, Strawberry Hills, NSW, 2012
Phone : 03 9319 7206
Website : www.girlguides.org.au
Email : guides@girlguides.org.au
MND Victoria
About : MND Victoria is an organisation dedicated to the support of people living with Motor Neurone Disease.
The service is for everyone who is living with MND, whether directly involved or not. MND impacts not only upon those with the diagnosis, but also upon spouses, carers, parents, children , the extended family, friends, workmates and service providers.
Donate: The cork recycling program is a volunteer project which started nearly 20 years ago. In the early 1990s, two young students from Canterbury Primary School hatched an idea to raise money for research into Motor Neurone Disease. They started collecting corks for recycling.
Before we can take corks to the recycler, every bag has to be sorted and checked to eliminate any "foreign" material that has found its way in. This includes; wire from champagne bottles, foils, port and sherry stoppers.
Plastic corks are sorted separately and recycled as art materials.
Please save your corks, and help buy equipment for people living with motor neurone disease.
Phone : 03 9830 2112
Website : http://mnd.asn.au
Email : info@mnd.asn.au
The Watershed Sustainability Resource Centre
About : The Watershed Sustainability Resource Centre is a joint initiative of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Councils, as part of an ongoing commitment to supporting sustainable environments. Originally funded by the NSW Stormwater Trust with a focus on stormwater pollution and water conservation, The Watershed has expanded its focus to embrace innovative and practical solutions for sustainability.
Donate : All corks will be donated to the zoo which will sell them to a processing plant for the manufacture of new cork products.
He money raised from the sale of recycled corks will go directly to the Taronga Foundation, which has been established by the Zoological Parks Board to fund the expansion and redevelopment of the Taronga and Western Plain Zoos and to further their ability to contribute to national and global conservation programs.
All you need to do is drop off your used corks at The Watershed Sustainability Resource Centre.
Address : 218 King St Newton Adelaide
Phone : 03 9319 7206
Fax : 03 9319 7453
For more information
Still can't find a place near you that accepts donations of corks? Check out www.recyclingnearyou.com
Are you a community group wishing to add your name to the register?
If you want your details listed, please provide them in the same format as above and send them to donations@givenow.com.au