New York oyster shells find second life restoring harbor reefs

The Manila Times

New York oyster shells find second life restoring harbor reefs  Amid a coastal breeze and summer sunshine, a corporate volunteer team joined more than 16,000 New Yorkers who have worked with the Billion Oyster Project, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring oyster reefs in New York Harbor. The organization's goal is to restore one billion oysters and engage one million New York City students by 2030. Volunteers from commercial real estate services firm JLL took part in a key stage of the restoration effort: sorting, cleaning, and preparing recycled oyster shells. The shells will later be incorporated into eco-friendly reef structures designed by the Billion Oyster Project to replicate the complexity of natural oyster reefs.  The project has collected more than 3.2 million pounds of recycled oyster shells from partner restaurants across New York City. More than 16,000 volunteers have participated in reef-building projects, shell-counting efforts and community events. To date, the organization has restored more than 19 acres of reef and reintroduced over 180 million oysters to New York waters. The restoration effort is intended not only to improve marine biodiversity but also to strengthen coastal resilience.  What began as a Harbor School initiative has since expanded into a citywide effort spanning all five boroughs. The organization has worked with thousands of people from diverse backgrounds and hundreds of sustainability-focused partners.  REUTERS VIDEO  Check out our Streaming Channel: https://streaming.manilatimes.net/  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net  Follow us: Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion  Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital  Check out our Podcasts: Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  #TheManilaTimes #WorldNews

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00:15I'm

00:30There's still a little ledge on the top.

00:35Today's preparation is important because you have shells from all over New York City,

00:42from over 70 different restaurants, all coming here to Governor's Island,

00:48to the southern point of Governor's Island where they're cured.

00:52But these shells need a little bit of time and love from volunteers to be processed

01:00before they're ready to come back into the harbor in a variety of ways.

01:03So one of the easiest things you can do as a New Yorker, as someone in New York City,

01:07is to dine at one of the restaurant partners that we have to actively consume oysters

01:12that will be turned into habitat.

01:57Oysters, as they are living and breathing and dying, they are filtering the water in

02:02mass amounts.

02:03An adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day.

02:07A billion oysters in New York Harbor looks like refreshing the standing volume of the

02:11harbor every three days.

02:23They prevent shoreline erosion and can really slow wave surge energy.

02:28This is incredibly significant as New York will be getting more intense weather events

02:34throughout the years, given that climate change is accelerating.

02:38So oyster restructures can really help protect us on the shore, on the shoreline.

02:45Second is that oysters are what we call a keystone species, meaning when oysters thrive in an

02:49environment, all other biodiversity thrives in that environment.

03:04I think it's definitely helpful for the future generations.

03:08So I went to some of these conferences and panelist discussions that sometimes you may not see

03:15it on the news right away, but with all these small steps and collective efforts, at some

03:21point in the future, it's going to show up in your data and reporting.

03:27And everybody knows that water, air, these are just essential for our survival.

03:32So it's definitely worth putting, investing your time up front.

04:01So it's definitely worth putting, investing your time up front.

04:02All right.

04:17To be continued...

04:18To be continued...

04:19To be continued...

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