Shell to Shore
Shell to Shore is an oyster shell recycling project based in Athens, Georgia.
Oysters are a natural resource, a keystone species, and ecosystem engineers, filtering water and regenerating themselves. By transporting shell from your table to the shore, we are diverting shells from the landfill and reconnecting this natural resource to its coastal home, where wild oyster spat connects to the recycled shell and replenishes wild oyster reefs.
Oyster shell restoration projects, known as living shorelines, can also help prevent erosion, storm surge, and flooding, and provide critical habitat for #saltlife.
Georgia recently legalized modern commercial oyster farming in our state, so we will have many more locally farmed oysters to eat and shells to collect soon!
See you at ShellFest 2023!
Shell to Shore is hosting the second annual ShellFest on April 16th in Athens, GA. It is a party for a cause, featuring raw oysters, live music, food & beverage from our restaurant friends and it is sure to be a blast.
Your Regular Admission Ticket for $65 includes:
Event Entry 3 - 7pm with 4 Live Bands
Raw Oysters from around the Country
3 Drink Tickets
VIP Entry Ticket for $150 includes:
Exclusive Welcome Happy Hour at Seabear Oyster Bar 1:30 - 2:30pm with coastal focused small bites by Chef Chris Hathcock of Husk Savannah and curated cocktail and wine pairings form Marta Kelleher, Seabear and Phil Stice, Specialty Wines.
Early Check-in to ShellFest at 2:30pm to meet and eat with the oyster farmers before the public arrives
Event Entry 2:30 - 7pm with 4 Live Bands
Raw Oysters from around the Country
3 Drink Tickets
VIP and Regular Admission Tickets are for 21+ Only. Event entry for kids ages 12 - 20 can be purchased for $30 and does not include drink or food. Kids under 12 enter for free.
No tickets available at the door. Hot food is available for purchase at the event from our local restaurant partners!
With gratitude to our sponsors, partners and incredible volunteers, as well as over 300 people who came out last year, we raised $15,000 to sustain Shell to Shore through 2022. Thank YOU!
Shell to Shore was created in Athens, Georgia
Thousands of oyster shells are tossed into trash cans every day. Shell to Shore is taking shell, an important reusable natural resource, from the bin and back to the coast.
Our restaurant partners collect oyster shells from your plate. Shell to Shore hauls the shell to a farm outside Athens where it cures for 6 months. The shells are then trucked to the shore to be used as infrastructure for wild oyster reefs and living shorelines as a raw material for restoration projects on Georgia’s coast.
In the process, we are connecting restaurant partners with our coastal oyster farmers, and oyster consumers to the environmental role oysters play for our planet. Our goal is to support sustainably farmed oysters in our state and create a new platform for the creative use of recycled shell. Oysters may very well save the planet, and we're here to enjoy them and help them do their thing.
Shop our Merchandise
Show the world that you care about our coast with the purchase of Shell to Shore swag. From t-shirts to bumper stickers to coozies, you can support the growth of your Georgia oyster shell recycling program.
Support The Cause
Your donation helps to grow Shell to Shore from an Athens-based shell recycling program into bigger markets across Georgia. Thank you!
Our Partners
Our first restaurant partner was Seabear Oyster Bar (Athens), joined shortly thereafter by Five & Ten (Athens), Kimball House (Atlanta), and Abel Brown (Augusta). We are supported by a SOAR Grant from the Nature Conservancy. We are grateful to the Gullah-Geechee community on Sapelo Island represented by our partners Save Our Legacy Ourself (S.O.L.O) who are providing coastal logistical support for the shell. Our partners at the Recycling Division of Athens-Clarke County and CHARM provide us with recycled bins, trash cans, and drums. Thank you to Zach and Sarah Brendel for opening up their farmland as the inland curing location for the shell we collect. We also appreciate the work and support of OysterSouth in growing the southern farmed oyster community.
Who We Are
Shell to Shore is a group of landlocked Athenians all about oysters. We are shuckin’ shell and truckin’ it to the coast, sippin’ and slurpin’ along the way. Georgia is positioned to be the next great oyster state of the Southeast and we are here to connect that essential resource — shell — to shore. Brought to you by Hunt Revell, Tyler Leslie, Nik Heynen, Jennifer Heynen, Erin Wilson, Malcolm Provost, Patrick Stubbers, Noah Brendel and Zack and Sarah Brendel.
Contact Us
Interested in getting involved? Whether it’s becoming a partner restaurant, hauling shell, donating funds or just learning more, drop us a line.
Email us at shelltoshoremail@gmail.com
Stay in touch
Follow us on Instagram @shelltoshore and sign up below for occasional updates via email.
