Restoring the Harbor: Billion Oyster Project Named 2026 Greenbuild Legacy Project

The Billion Oyster Project, a New York City nonprofit working to restore oyster reefs in New York Harbor, has been named the 2026 Greenbuild Legacy Project. Greenbuild is a national green building conference coming to New York City October 20-23, and each year it picks a local project to support. This one focuses on the group's Shell Recycling Program, which collects used oyster shells from more than 70 NYC restaurants, cures them on Governors Island, and returns them to the harbor as the base for new oyster reefs. In 2025 the program diverted over 287,000 pounds of shells from landfills, and has recycled 3.1 million pounds since it started in 2015.

The Greenbuild Host Committee is giving $10,000 to expand the program through 2026, covering staff training for new restaurant partners and the logistics of collecting shells during busy seasons. Oyster reefs once filtered water and buffered shorelines around New York naturally, and this funding aims to speed up reef installation and grow the recycling network.

This isn't a program tied to home energy upgrades or rebates, so it doesn't affect your house directly. But if you're curious about the broader sustainability world, or know a New York City restaurant that might want to join the shell recycling effort, you can find details and a donation link through the Billion Oyster Project's page connected to Greenbuild's 2026 conference.