8 Actions You Can Take this Earth Week
/Earth Day is April 22nd! We’re sharing our 2021 oyster restoration goal and ways you can get involved to support our mission this Earth Week.
After a snowy winter of planning and preparing, we're thrilled to be back in the field — on the waters of New York Harbor and on Governors Island. We're busy:
building reef structures for our Summer 2021 installations
training our Ambassadors to conduct oyster surveys and monitor our reefs
performing biodiversity assessments and collecting water quality data
redesigning and constructing our oyster production systems and equipment
and more!
And we're excited to share our 2021 oyster restoration goal with you: 18 million oysters. This is our most ambitious annual target yet and we can't do it without your help.
Below are 8 ways you can get involved and make a difference this Earth Day and beyond, including participating in our first-ever #OysterBlitz.
Thank you for your support and we're looking forward to SHELLEBRATING Earth Day with you!
JOIN #OYSTERBLITZ
New Yorkers! Explore your shoreline for wild oysters:
🦪 Sign up at bit.ly/oysterblitz21 to receive an email with all the details
🦪 Survey your NYC shoreline for wild oysters, waste, other creatures or interesting finds
🦪 Share what you see using #oysterblitz and tag @billionoyster
Trained Oyster Research Station Monitors:
Monitor your oyster research station and send us your data. Remember to capture photos/video and share them using #OysterBlitz and tagging @billionoyster.
#OysterBlitz data will contribute to our ongoing research projects and data collection, and can be presented at our Annual Billion Oyster Research Project Symposium.
Become a member
Can’t make it down to the water’s edge? Celebrate Earth Day by becoming a Billion Oyster Project Member.
Each new membership in April will help us restore up to 1,500 oysters this field season. We invite you to join this sustaining group of supporters today and start enjoying exclusive benefits.
Gifts made through the Billion Oyster Project Membership Program will be used where they are needed most.
ADVOCATE
Support a bill that would provide a tax credit to restaurants collecting and donating shells to programs like ours!
Reclaimed oyster shells from restaurants are key to our restoration efforts. We use them to create the calcium carbonate-rich, hard-surface reefs our live oysters need to survive and thrive.
Thanks to a group of amazing students at West End Secondary School and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, a bill was developed to help restaurants that are putting in the extra work of collecting and donating shells for the environment.
With the pandemic ravaging the restaurant industry, the bill — which has languished in legislative limbo — might finally have found its moment!
Learn more about the bill and the simple steps you can take to support it.
VOLUNTEER
Your efforts will help us restore 2,400 linear feet of living shoreline to West Pond at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.
For a long-term volunteering commitment, become a Billion Oyster Project Ambassador. These super-star volunteers dive into a specialized area of our operations and are trained for hands-on field work like conducting Wild Oyster Surveys and monitoring Oyster Research Stations.
Interested in planning a volunteer day for your team or company? Learn more about our corporate volunteer opportunities.
GET STUDENTS INVOLVED
Encourage NYC students to develop and submit creative projects related to New York Harbor for our Annual Billion Oyster Research Project Symposium!
A diverse group of professionals from our network review and provide individualized feedback for every project. We'll showcase and celebrate the submissions during a virtual event in June.
Our hope is that students will learn something new and feel more connected to and excited about our city’s greatest natural resource, New York Harbor.
MOVE TO MAKE AN IMPACT
Support Billion Oyster Project from your yoga mat!
In honor of Earth Day, SKY TING, a community-driven yoga brand focused on reinventing wellness through a feel good—do good philosophy, is donating proceeds from their live yoga classes to Billion Oyster Project all month!
spread the word
Show your support on your sleeve! Shop our merch store.
DONATE
Every dollar helps! We’re grateful for your continued support.
