WHY CORK? 5 Incredible Benefits of Cork!

WHY DO WE ALL NEED A CORK YOGA MAT

Cork is thought to be one of the most sustainable materials on the planet and it's not surprising given the incredible benefits of cork we listed below. These properties of cork make it suitable for almost a limitless amount of applications, and without harming the environment. Let’s have a closer look…

Certain properties of cork—such as the fact that it is; thermic, acoustic, has high resistance to abrasion, its non-toxicity, hypoallergenicity, elasticity, compressibility, viscoelasticity, non-permeability to gases and liquids, recyclability and biodegradability —made it widely used a plethora of diverse and almost unlimited applications. In fact, cork has been used for different added-value products: stoppers for wine, clothes, furniture, coating, interior components for buses, trains, airplanes, building bridges and motorways, absorbents for oils, hydrocarbons or organic solvents, in hockey balls, golf balls and baseballs, shuttlecocks, table-tennis rackets, dartboards, kayaks and surfboards, insulation for shoe soles, fishing buoys, tenements for bees and building material for decades. Cork oak being a slow growth tree means that it has a high capacity to regenerate and, for this reason, its commercial exploitation is sustainable. 

If we break it down, here is why we chose to make our mats from Cork; 

1. RENEWABLE RESOURCE: No tree is cut down to harvest cork. It is hand harvested every 9 to 12 years. Each tree can produce cork for about 200 years.
2. BIODEGRADABLE: Cork is recyclable & biodegradable. Any cork waste from production  is reused and ground to make other cork products. 
3. MAGICAL MATERIAL: Cork is anti-static, water-resistant, & resilient.  Suberin makes cork naturally resist dust, water and insects! Cork absorbs energy on impact and quickly regains its structure.
4. ANTIMICROBIAL: Cork is highly antibacterial. One studied showed almost 100% bacterial reduction of a certain type of bacteria, after 90 minutes.
5. NO CHEMICALS OR TOXINS: Cork doesn't contain any PVC or other chemicals that may harm you and our planet. So-called "eco-friendly" TPE or other materials are made from plastic. Cork and natural rubber is all you get with your YaloYoga Mat , so there is no risk of contributing to the plastic pollution.

 This is why YaloYoga uses only natural materials, namely cork, natural rubber and cotton in all our products that uses fabrics! By choosing a cork mat, you can incorporate all the incredible benefits of cork into your yoga practice. Get your cork yoga mat today!