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Why oyster shells should be recycled

Do you enjoy a meal of oysters on the half-shell at your favourite restaurant or at home? Recycling programs in coastal regions world-wide, including the Vendée, are popping up just about everywhere to ensure the shells are redeployed as a vital natural resource. Oyster shells provide the best material… to rebuild oyster reefs. As an oyster lover, contributing your household shells back to the reefs is probably the most responsible way to recycle them, but it’s certainly not the only way in which oyster shells can be re-used.What is an oyster shell recycling program – Oyster are a fundamental species for water filtration to maintain estuaries and healthy coastal ecosystems. As a result, oysters are also used to gather information on the overall health of the surrounding ecosystem. Healthy coastlines mean more tourism and water sports, which suggests that oyster reefs provide not only ecological, but also economical and recreational benefits …

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Recycling wine corks in France

Are you one of those people or families that save wine corks in a gigantic vase? We’ll join you in raising our hand. The reason for doing so can range from good intentions (upcycling projects), to proudly displaying just how much you have embraced living in the land of the Wine River. Saving corks seems for many to inevitably result in an overflow, while the unique ecosystem of the cork oak forests suffers from climate change, overharvesting, and other damaging activity.What is cork and why participate in a recycling program – Cork is a natural and biodegradable material made from the bark of the cork oak trees (Quercus suber L.) that predominantly grow in a narrow geographical range of the Western Mediterranean basin of North-Africa, Spain and Portugal. Cork is removed in sheets from the trees when a tree is 25 to 30 years old and about 60 cm in circumference at breast …