I’m pro cork

I rewrap my handlebars (the first time I’ve done this to any bike since I was maybe twelve) with a cork-based product that makes me feel good because of that whole traipsing-through-the-cork-forests-and-factories-of-Portugal investigative journalism thing I did a few years ago. (If interested, see here.)

Cork is a fully-sustainable product (harvesting it is like sheering sheep — the tree is not cut down), with mind-blowing features such as naturally antimicrobial and fire-resistant. Plus lightweight, buoyant and soft,  So soft. I feel like I’m gripping a cushiony feather bed when I ride my bike now. It’s a little gift I give to myself, and the world. Saving the cork forests through the purchase of products like this can actually help save one of the top ten biodiversity hotspots-in-peril on the planet. Makes you want to pop a cork and celebrate, doesn’t it?