Reduce, reuse, recork

Beyond collecting wine stoppers for decorating and craft projects, my cork recycling efforts have been minimal at best. But recently I heard about a number of new initiatives aimed at sending used wine and champagne corks into the recycling bin.

A New York Times blog highlighted the Portugese company, Amorim, in its ReCORK America prohect to recycle corks with a shoe manufacturer from Canada. The footwear company, SOLE, will re-purpose the used corks into soles of shoes. But there is an added benefit of reduced transportation costs since cork from the U.S. will be shipped a shorter distance — to Canada rather than South America.

But the ReCORK America project is not the only one of its kind. A similar initiative in St. Louis, Mo., was started in hopes of making recycling wine corks as common as separating paper and plastic. The project is named "Rewind Your Wine," and the recycled corks are sent to a building materials manufacturer where they are most often transformed into flooring. According to an stltoday.com article, nearly 15 billion corks end up in landfills each year.

While these projects are underway, some wine bottlers are switching to synthetic, plastic corks in hopes of saving some money, and also reducing chances for cork molding or deterioration. But the number of synthetic corks on the market has not reduced the need for natural corks, according to a 2006 World Wildlife Fund report cited in a Washington Post blog. It states the number of natural corks produced annually for use in the U.S. has increased from about 15 billion to about 18 billion.

So what does this mean for the average consumer? We might see an increase in cork recycling drop boxes, especially at retailers such as Whole Foods, which partnered with a few of the initiatives. Or maybe someday there will be cork-eating machines next to the aluminum can returnables at grocery stores. If you do not know where to recycle used corks, check with a local recycling center or waste management company to see if there are any facilities in your area.

Or you could just make a cork wreath.

Mystery Shopping

When I first began an article on mystery shopping, I thought it would be more about the national trend toward companies hiring undercover shoppers.  Yes, part of the story focused on that national trend, but I also discovered that there are mystery shoppers everywhere- yes, even in central Michigan.  

My first source was a young woman from the Ann Arbor area who had actually been an intern at a marketing firm that connected mystery shoppers with companies desiring their feedback.  She had worked for the company for a few months, and had the opportunity to complete a couple mystery shops and also to read over other shopper's feedback forms from their assignments.  

I found this to be very cool- and I started talking about the idea of mystery shoppers to my friends and family.  Then, believe it or not, my boyfriend decided to sign-up!  No more than three days later did he call me.  

"Guess what!" he said.  "I just went mystery shopping for a used car... I even test drove it."  

He was thrilled.  He apparently had just gone online and signed up.  Pretty soon he receieved an email telling him about some local mystery shopping assignments.  It was pretty simple. 

So maybe you, too, are curious.  If you want to become a mystery shopper with a local company, you could look into this Ann Arbor-based firm- it's the same one that my source worked for.  To check it out, go to: http://www.servad.com and click on "Be a Mystery Shopper" on the left side.  

But, before getting too excited and signing up , you may want to look at Web sites that rank and evaluate secret shopping companies.  To start your research, I suggest checking out this article from Consumer Affairs.  

Fashion Week II

From September 5-12, Mercedes-Benz Fashion week descended upon the streets of New York City.  Celebrities, red carpet and miles of runways  headlined the event.  But, for those of us who could not make it to the fashion epicenter, all the events were recorded.  On the Web, you can find schedules, celebrity sightings, and of course all those big new trends. 

According to fashion reports, this fall's trends included sheers, animal prints, puffy sleeves, and voluminous shapes.  These trends are not  trends that you will usually see walking down Grand River Ave. in East Lansing.  So, to preview the real trends, you may want to take a look further than your neighbor's closet, and see some of the video from this year's shows. 

To catch up on all the latest fashion news you missed while enjoying Michigan's fall weather, visit  http://www.mbshowsla.com/newyork/spring2008/home.html.

Along the right-hand side are links to the schedule, "The Scene"- all those front-row  celebrity mugshots, and of course pictures from each designer's show.  

Fashion Week I

I recently wrote a story about this fall's trends on the runways of New York and Paris.  As this was my first time covering  fashion, I  did some research in the fashion columns.  The New York Magazine actually had a number of video columns by fashion reporters, and one in particular- posted below-  that seemed like a good introduction to the world of runways.  

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2007/09/video_harriet_and_amys_trend_r.html