Oyster Shell Recycling Teaches Ridgeway Elementary About Chesapeake
SEVERN, MD — Severn elementary school students are learning hands-on that recycling oyster shells cleans the Chesapeake Bay, provides habitat for marine life and prevents shoreline erosion.About two weeks ago, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation installed crates to collect used oyster shells outside Ridgeway Elementary School. Community members can drop their shells in the bins, and CBF will use them to plant new oyster reefs. The push comes from the Green School Club, led by second-grade teacher Jami Brown."I have been helping with Green school in some capacity for years now. I feel it's important to teach students how oyster shell recycling can help build new oyster reefs, help with erosion and reduce waste in the Bay," Brown told Patch in a Tuesday email.Oysters are natural filters, each cleaning 50 gallons of water per day. Oyster reefs also serve as shelter for marine life, making them safe habitats and plentiful fishing spots. The reefs of 100 years ago were so large that they were considered navigational hazards.Excessive fishing, disease and pollution decimated the bay's oyster populations in the 19th and 20th centuries. About 1% of the native oyster population remains, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.Before the 1880s, the Chesapeake's oysters could cleanse a volume equal to the bay's 18 trillion gallons of water in days. It would now take a year to accomplish that feat.The CBF turns 2,000 to 4,000 bushels of recycled oyster shells each year into habitat for millions of oysters planted in the Chesapeake and its tributaries. CBF cleans the oyster shells and places them in water tanks with millions of microscopic oyster larvae, which then attach to the shells. Each recycled shell can become home to dozens of those baby oysters, called spat. CBF then provides the spat-on-shell to its oyster gardeners and plants them in the bay and its tributaries to expand oyster reefs.Ridgeway Elementary's Green School Club is promoting oyster shell recycling with posters like this. (Courtesy of Jami Brown)CBF is nearing completion of a decade-long push to restore oyster reefs in the bay.In 2014, CBF committed to restoring over 2,300 acres of oyster reefs across 11 tributaries by 2025. Nine of the projects are complete and showing early signs of success.Brown hopes Ridgeway Elementary's Green School Club can contribute to cleaner waters by encouraging oyster shell recycling."I think of the Green School club members as ambassadors ... for the environment and they can spread the message to their family and community. At our next meeting, we will be making a few posters and digital morning announcements teaching the students, pre-K to fifth, about the importance of oyster shell recycling," Brown said.Ridgeway is one of CBF's 12 oyster shell collection sites in Anne Arundel County. The other locations are:Arturo's Trattoria (Glen Burnie)Bodkin Elementary School (Pasadena)Chesapeake Bay Middle School (Pasadena)Starbucks (Severna Park)Anglers Sport Center (Annapolis)Eastport Yacht Club Foundation (Annapolis)Chesapeake Bay Foundation (Annapolis)Oak Grove Marine Center (Edgewater)Pirates Cove Restaurant (Galesville)MD Oyster Restoration Center (Shady Side)Discovery Village (Shady Side)"We wanted to reach out to the local community to let them know it's available," Brown said.More information on CBF's oyster restoration efforts is posted here.The article Oyster Shell Recycling Teaches Ridgeway Elementary About Chesapeake appeared first on Odenton-Severn, MD Patch.
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