WILMINGTON — Preparing oysters at home can be fun, and makes for a delicious meal. But what do you do with the shells when you’re done? Tossing them in the trash doesn’t feel right, and you can’t recycle them — or can you?
Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE) has started a pilot residential shell recycling program in Delaware. PDE has two recycling bins in the parking lot of George & Sons’ Seafood Market in Hockessin. Now, all people have to do after enjoying their delicious oysters at home is drop them off when it’s convenient in the specially marked bins in George & Sons’ parking lot. PDE will pick up the shells and take them to its shell recycling area. These shells will be used in living shoreline restoration projects and to expand oyster habitat. In more than three years, PDE has reinforced 1,300 feet of living shoreline in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey by using recycled oyster shells.
“PDE\’s shell recycling program has always been a great point of pride for our organization, but whenever we talked about it with the public, the response was always ‘how can I help?’” said Sarah Bouboulis, PDE’s Habitat Project Coordinator. “All of our shells came from area restaurants until today, and there was no direct link to our shell recycling efforts and the general public. Now there is. We are so excited to offer this opportunity to oyster lovers, and we hope residents take us up on the offer.”
Since 2016, PDE has had an agreement with area restaurants to collect their used oyster shells, but this is the first time that the organization has formally offered shell drop-off to residents.
\”This program is a prime example of one more way we can engage and educate the public about the benefits of embracing our coastal culture,” said George Esterling IV of George & Sons’ Seafood Market. “To now have the opportunity to involve our community in these efforts is just the icing on the cake. At George & Sons\’, it is our goal to provide not only friendly service and quality product, but also a culture that residents of our state so desperately need to embrace —coastal pride. We\’ll keep on shuckin\’, and you keep on recycling.”
But wait, there’s more! Starting on March 2, residents who recycle their shells can be eligible for a monthly gift card drawing. When recyclers drop off their shells, they can take a selfie — or
shell
fie — next to the recycling bin and post it on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with the #PDEShellfie hashtag. From there, they become eligible for the random prize drawing.
As this is a pilot program, PDE’s drop-off site at George & Sons’ is the first of what it hopes will be many locations for residential shell recycling. PDE will add locations depending on the success of the pilot program.
George & Sons’ Seafood Market is at 1216 Old Lancaster Pike in Hockessin, Delaware. For more information about the recycling program, contact Sarah Bouboulis at
sbouboulis@delawareestuary.org
.