{"id":479460,"date":"2025-12-30T06:45:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/479460\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T06:45:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T06:45:15","slug":"san-antonio-restaurant-joins-oyster-shell-recycling-initiative-to-restore-texas-reefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/479460\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio restaurant joins oyster shell recycling initiative to restore Texas reefs"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 One man\u2019s trash is giving an entire ecosystem a second chance.<\/p>\n

Oyster shells that would normally be discarded in San Antonio are now being collected to help restore threatened oyster reefs along the Gulf Coast. The South Texas Coastal Initiative<\/a> is leading the effort in the city. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what we do to keep our ecosystem clean and running right,\u201d Ernest Brown, a member of the Board of Directors for STCI, said. \u201cEvery oyster shell we put back in the water has a chance to grow another oyster, and there are millions of shells being thrown away.\u201d <\/p>\n

KSAT met with the STCI team at Fiesta during St. Mary\u2019s University\u2019s Oyster Bake 2025. They were there to help recycle discarded oyster shells. <\/p>\n

About a week later, KSAT followed their crews to the coast to see those oyster shells start the decontamination process. Volunteers took clean shells, bagged them and then laid them on the bottom of the bay. <\/p>\n

The effort was led by Sink Your Shucks and the Harte Institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. They\u2019re rebuilding oyster reefs in the Gulf by using recycled shells to give baby larvae a safe surface to grow on. <\/p>\n

KSAT won a Regional Lone Star Emmy<\/a> in the Environment\/Science category for the story, which was published in May.<\/p>\n

Over the last eight months since then, STCI has grown rapidly in the city. Now, they\u2019ve checked off San Antonio as a regular collection site for used oyster shells. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have 65 restaurants in San Antonio lined up that we\u2019re going to hit,\u201d Brown said. <\/p>\n

The first business to say \u201cyes\u201d was Little Em\u2019s Oyster Bar in Southtown. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo be sitting here with this as your first business in this initiative, how does it feel?\u201d KSAT reporter Avery Everett asked. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great,\u201d STCI President and founder Eric Duxstad said.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how collection works in San Antonio: <\/p>\n