In 2019, New York city made an effort to use discarded oyster shells to get a second life underwater. The restaurants across New York collected their used oyster shells so they could eventually be returned to New York Harbor and used to rebuild oyster reefs. The unusual recycling program was part of the Billion Oyster Project, a nonprofit based on Governors Island that was working to restore oysters to the waters surrounding New York City. The project's long-term goal was to restore 1 billion oysters across 100 acres of oyster reefs in New York Harbor by 2035.
The Billion Oyster Project was working with 75 restaurants around New York City to collect discarded oyster shells rather than sending them to landfills. The shells were sorted and stored before being collected by The Lobster Place, which operated the project's shell collection program. "We take the oyster shells from restaurants and bring them to our shell pile," Agata Poniatowski, the project's education outreach coordinator, told ABC News.
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The shells were then left to "cure" and this gave them enough time to pass for potential bacteria, disease and invasive species to be eliminated before the shells could be used in restoration. Once there's no bacteria and no invasive species, no disease, the oysters are brought to the hatchery. The recycled shells could then become a surface for baby oysters. "Every oyster shell donated to us can be the home for 10 to 20 oysters," she said.
Millions of baby oysters were being raised
The best part about the Billion Oyster Project was that the restoration work was not limited to restaurants. Students at the New York Harbor School on Governors Island also learnt about marine restoration through hands-on programs. They worked with floating eco docks, studied underwater conditions and helped with oyster restoration, including raising oysters in the project's nursery and hatchery.
