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The Future

Oyster shells recycled from local restaurants through Galveston Bay Foundation’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program form an oyster reef and provide shoreline protection at the Foundation’s Sweetwater Preserve in Galveston, Texas.
Oyster shells recycled from local restaurants through Galveston Bay Foundation’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program form an oyster reef and provide shoreline protection at the Foundation’s Sweetwater Preserve in Galveston, Texas. Photo: Galveston Bay Foundation

Even though the foundation’s big expansion into Houston has been postponed, its staff hasn’t stopped working. They’re still trying to do some piloting of the expansion with a restaurant in Houston. If all goes well, they might even be able to add one or two more restaurants in the city this year thanks to some new equipment coming in.

The goal is to increase the program’s capacity and efficiency. Nonetheless, Leija is also hoping to reduce the labor involved. The key here would be a small-scale dump truck. The model the foundation is looking at would double the amount of shell it can pick up at one time and work “essentially like a garbage collector,” Leija said.

However, these shells are anything but trash.

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