Oyster Shell Recycling in Baton Rouge: Great for the Coast, Restaurants and Patrons

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) is celebrating the ten-year anniversary of its oyster shell recycling program (OSRP). Since 2014, CRCL has collected oyster shells from participating New Orleans restaurants, cured the shells, bagged them, and then used the bagged shells to build oyster reefs. 

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To date, CRCL has recycled more than 10.5 million tons of oyster shells and counting, and built five oyster reefs in Coastal Louisiana. The oyster shell program is also how Chefs Brigade first became involved with CRCL and we continue to be a proud partner in the effort to bring more restaurants into the program, and reuse these valuable reef building blocks instead of throwing them into the garbage, and eventually a landfill. 

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What better way for OSRP to celebrate ten years than expanding its efforts? The program is now open to Baton Rouge restaurants and with the tax credit now available to offset costs, it couldn’t be a better time for Red Stick eateries to help stabilize the Louisiana coast and support our homegrown fisheries. 

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Felix’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar’s two New Orleans locations participate in the program, and are big proponents of shell recycling. As Zach Boykin, the general manager of Felix’s French Quarter, puts it, there are many advantages to joining the program. 

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“It benefits Louisiana and our coast,” says Boykin. “We’re a Louisiana-based company and we do as much as possible for our community. We rely a lot on our coast for seafood, and anything we can do to help, we’re all in.”

It’s a straightforward process for the shuckers, and Boykin says it actually streamlines their workflow. The oyster is shucked, the shells go in a tote bag and then dumped into bins that CRCL picks up. Boykin says that on average the restaurant fills 5-7 bins per day. 

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“For each yearly quarter, we have averaged almost 60,000 pounds of recycled shells,” Boykins says. “That’s a lot of shells going to help the coast.”

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The restaurant also has shell recycling stickers posted at all of its patron entrances, menus and people often ask about it.

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“Yeah, it’s great because people like hearing about it, and how the program is making a difference,” says Boykin.

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Just think how all of these Baton Rouge diners will feel when they know they can eat oysters and help save our coast.

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