With June underway, in Los Angeles, that can mean only two things, here comes the heat and a slight reprieve from the Monday through Friday horrendous traffic, but why? Because now the kids are out of school, the days are longer and hotter–and that also means more time to get out, enjoy nature and more importantly, break a sweat.
luckily for those individuals, like me, who live in Los Angeles, there’s no shortage of opportunities to get your sweat on. From the valley to the sea–we’ve got every kind of gym you can think of. If cycling’s your aerobic exercise of choice try Sweatshoppe, Cyclebar, Beat bike, SoulCycle. Maybe you’re more into full-body? No problem, There’s a CrossFit gym on every corner. Looking to tone up and slim down? Do it with yoga, from Hot 8, to Yogaworks, Corepower and everyone in between–you can imagine, the options are endless.
Along with all the choices of gyms, come all of the accessories to go with them. It’s enough to make anyone’s head spin, there’s just too much, too much of everything, and anything in excess can seem overwhelming, and let’s be honest, a bit wasteful.
It’s great to stay fit, feel good and do good for yourself, but what about keeping our earth fit and feeling good, too? There are so many ways to minimize the impact we have on this earth while we are here, today, I’m only going to talk about one of them.
Yoga mats, did you know the average Yoga mat never biodegrades? That’s because more often than not, the average yoga mat is made with PVC, (polyvinyl chloride), yup, and it’s chalk full of phthalates, cadmium, and lead. It’s not only extremely bad for the environment, it can be extremely harmful to you, too! Just think, as you move through your practice, you are taking deep breaths, those breaths can intake the chemicals that leach out of each yoga mat made from PVC. Sure, there are some places that can recycle PVC, but it’s a plastic, and difficult to recycle. So that beautiful yoga mat you covet so dearly will be here long after we are all gone.
Thankfully, there are companies working to recycle yoga mats, turning them into useful items like sandals, purses, and bags, like Sanuk. But what about the yoga mats themselves? Enter, Corc Yoga, founded by wife, mother, and yogi Christine Moghadam.
Corc Yoga is a fully biodegradable, earth-friendly, non-slip, hypoallergenic line of yoga mats. The brand was founded just this year after Christine and her family took a trip to Portugal, where they fell in love with the people and the process of harvesting cork.
“The process of producing cork takes decades. Cork Oaks remain untouched for up to 30 years and are then harvested every 9 years, allowing the natural process of maturing to occur. That means cork trees are never cut down to harvest cork, they are carefully shaved where the natural bark can grow back.” - Corc Yoga
Thankfully, we’ve been fortunate enough to learn more about Christine’s love for the brand and passion for cultivating an organic line of products, anyone can be proud to use.
WFTR: Why did you decide to launch Corc Yoga?
Christine: I’ve been fortunate to travel all over the world but immediately fell in love with Portugal. During my travels there, I found that Portugal was the largest producer of cork and discovered so many things could be made from this material. I loved that it was a sustainable product and learned that Portugal’s carefully regulated cork industry creates high-wage seasonal jobs for more than 10,000 workers.
WFTR: What was your initial inspiration for starting the brand?
C: The inspiration for Corc Yoga came from my love for travel when I surprised my husband with a trip to Portugal for the first time. Last summer, in 2017 I began to find more time for yoga and as a mom of 2 boys, it became a great source of relaxation for me =). I tried a cork yoga mat that I bought from a Portuguese distributor and didn’t like it. So, I wanted to find a way to improve it and that’s when I thought, why not create a better one and sell our own?
WFTR: How long did it take for you to research and design the product before you could take it to market?
C: I spent a year researching more about cork and contacting multiple manufacturers in Portugal to see what we could create out of this amazing material that would fit the US market. My team and I spent time researching the market to see if cork yoga mats could be a possible opportunity for us. I returned to Portugal last summer where we spent a month meeting with manufacturers, stayed in the cork forest and finally met our manufacturer. With his knowledge and expertise, he was eager to establish a partnership and produce yoga mats for us.
WFTR: How do you hope to use Corc Yoga for good?
C: Portugal has a very special place in my heart, having been raised by entrepreneurs, I learned that giving back is truly a part of smart-business.
Currently, my mission is to be a sustainable business that gives back toward youth mental health in Portugal. I also love partnering with smaller businesses/factories because it continues to provides jobs and income for families.
WFTR: What other products do you forsee launching?
C: In addition to yoga mats, I am currently working with a factory in Turkey to produce Turkish towels for yoga and another factory in India that is producing yoga mat bags out of organic Hemp. Another cork product coming soon is a backpack designed to hold our yoga mats. This backpack is being produced by a cork manufacturer in Portugal that is operated by only women, that only supports the smaller cork factories.
WFTR: There have been rumors circulating for years regarding the depletion of “over-corking”, that cork is in short supply. Will this impact your business and do you anticipate creating alternative earth-friendly products in the future?
C: Regarding whether we will produce alternative mats in the future - our plan is to continue with cork but also seek alternative sustainable materials as needed - this would be based on the knowledge and information that our manufacturer gives us. I have learned from the Cork Association in Portugal that the large cork suppliers who are monopolizing all the small businesses are creating this false sense of desperation that the cork supply is running low.
For now, it appears the line is focused on conservation and working towards a greener approach to providing earth-friendly products that anyone can carry. If you’d like to learn more about Corc Yoga, click here.
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