Reflecting on the Coastal Resiliency Days of Service: Billion Oyster Project

by Sophia Gumbs

2 people shaking crates of oyster shells into blue bins

Last Friday, October 25, a group from the NYU community joined the Office of Sustainability in a day of service with the Billion Oyster Project. Billion Oyster Project’s mission is to “restore oyster reefs to New York Harbor through public education initiatives.” The Project’s intention is to distribute one billion live oysters around 100 acres of reefs by 2035 in order to restore the New York Harbor’s previous role as the “most productive waterbody in the North Atlantic” and the “oyster capital of the world.” So far, the Project has planted 28 million live oysters, recycled 1 million pounds of shell, and worked with 75 restaurants, 70 schools, 1,215 high school students, over 6,500 middle school students, and over 9,000 volunteers!

At our day of service, we received a presentation all about the Project’s meaningful work and got into assembly-line formation to collect, wash, and organize heaps of shells. One group of us shoveled oyster shells from the heap into crates, shook the excess dirt out, and brought them over to the second group. The second group was arranged in a line at four different barrels of water. Each crate would get shaken in each barrel of water to clean the shells as thoroughly as possible. Then, the crates were handed off to the third group, who organized the shells. We all had a great time with the Billion Oyster Project, and I recommend volunteering with them. You will learn a lot and you will have a great time! 

You can learn more about their work by checking out the Billion Oyster Project website.

If you are interested in standing in service with the Billion Oyster Project, you can find more information on their volunteer page!

The volunteers pose on a massive pile of oyster shells!

Sophia GumbsSophia Gumbs is a second-year studying Environmental Studies and Social & Cultural Analysis with a concentration in Environmental Justice and Environmental Racism.She’s interested in topics ranging from social and environmental justice to sustainability, education, food justice, nutrition, the prison industrial complex, migration, indigenous/afro-descendant land and water rights, creative nonfiction, memoir, and community-based service. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time outdoors, exercise, cooking, reading, writing, and she’s been studying Brazilian Portuguese. Sophia grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, but considers NYC home!