How can I reuse or recycle mussel shells?
John and I went out for dinner the other day and someone on the next table to us was eating a big bowl of mussels.
After she’d finished her fishy starter, there was, of course, a big pile of shells left over – which naturally got my recycling juices going.
They’re not realistically compostable in most gardens because they’ll take so very long to break down and may attracted rodents in the meantime – so any suggestions for how they can be reused instead?
Are there any large scale recycling/reusing purposes for them that restaurants might be able to get involved with?
(Photo by lusi)
I know people can buy jewellery made from them there must be a way to make that jewellery. Clean them up, sterilise them and drill a small hole (with a craft drill) to make a pendent?
The shells polish up nicely.
actually when you leave really long enough it will be really stinky>>>>
If you really care about the environment you shouldn’t be eating these to begin with.
she wasn’t, it was another diner.
Sorry Ben, but having grown up on the ocean I can tell you that were it not for the harvesting of such shellfish they would be so prolific as to take over whole ecosystems. Our fault for overfishing different species so now we have to manage our own screwups.
Ben, that was a completely nonconstructive comment.
Of course we can all be greener. The fact that you own a computer and use the electricity required to run it means YOU could be doing more for the environment.
When will we stop this ridiculous one-upmanship and start applauding each other for what we ARE doing?
Way to go lusi, for trying to figure out a way to recycle something that most people would dismiss.
I would suggest washing them thoroughly, grinding them up, and putting them around plants that tend to get eaten by slugs or snails. Egg shells work well for this, so I don’t see why other shells wouldn’t work too.
Could they be recycled in the garden if they were crushed first?
They do use crushed shells in place of gravel for driveways and walk ways.
When we lived in Florida, seafood restaurants would crush the shells and use them to “pave” the parking lot–kind of like crushed stone.
In North Carolina oyster shells are banned from landfills. They want people to recycle them so they can be put back in the ocean for baby oysters to grow on. I am not a biologist so I am sure some of the details are wrong but that is the jist. I am not sure if mussels work the same way.
In North Carolina public oyster shell recycling locations also take clam and mussel shells. Check this link for a listing of shell recycling drop off locations: http://www.ncfisheries.net/shellfish/recycle4.htm
Shells are basically made of calcium. In the construction industry, calcium/lime is a very useful material – used in cement, mortar etc… In parts of India, Goa especially, shells were powered and used to make mortar and plaster – though this was in the years gone by…. now people mostly use cement. While a mortar and plaster industry cannot be based on left-over shells from restaurants, they could contribute to it if one existed. For those interested in using it for their own homes, I guess they could go around gathering up shells from different places….
Oh… I remembered another use… a friend’s uncle once picked some up from the beach, washed them and popped them into his sugar, tea and coffee jars. They looked much better than plastic spoons.
:-)
they can be broken up and used to improve nutrition for pet chickens, (and probably other birds…)
if they can be crushed down to 1/2″ to 1″ pieces they make okay ground cover for flower gardens and/or around bases of trees. it will keep weeds down, moisture in, and will break down into simple calcium over time.
a friend made spoons out of muscle shells, he attached a stick to it.
The fancy compost one can buy at the Union Square Green Market in NYC brags of oyster shells as an ingredient. Perhaps it would be possible to give seafish shells to growing trade in organic compost…
Give them to some rather large family farm that sells organic compost. I know that there are family run organic farms in New York that are making more money from selling great compost than they are from their vegetables or livestock. Perhaps a farm like that would welcome mussel shells…
Otherwise I’d crush them in a bag with a hammer and mix them into my compost.
Yeah, they’d be great in compost, but they’d make it very alkaline so be careful only to use it for plants that can tolerate that.
They could be useful in an aquarium – lots of places have quite acidic water that lots of aquarium fish can’t handle, so people add shells to the water to neutralise the acid. They eventually dissolve and have to be replaced, and they’d have to be cleaned up really well to avoid spreading disease to fish which are not exposed to natural levels of bacteria etc – boiling them should do it, followed by a scrub in salt water.
I always use shells in my garden. Clean off first, then through them in the beds. They look nice, decompose over time, and provide nutrients to the soil.
benh you would shut up this isnt the only comment like this you’ve made. if you have a fish tank with fish such as south african cichlids they make a great pH buffer (they make the ph alkaline)
Shells can be crushed “automatically” as well: At a “traditional” meal offered by members of a Native American tribe on an island in Puget Sound in the northwest part of Washington state, USA, visitors are instructed, after dining, to throw their empty oyster or clam shells (I don’t recall which) on the path to the lodge where the meal is served. Then, in the course of daily life, as they are walked on and driven over, the shells are crushed into “gravel”.
They also make a pleasant crunching noise and sensation underfoot (not barefoot, please!).
I don’t recall any concerns about first washing the shells. Of course, the frequent rains may take care of the washing, and life on an island may mean helpful seagulls pick the shells clean before rats or slugs or whatever are attracted by the scent.
I bake or fire my mussel shells. This makes them easy to crush/break up as the heat makes them brittle. They mainly contain Calcium Carbonate, but not as much per weight as Oyster shells. If you don’t want to use the extra energy of baking them – UV radiation will do the same trick but take a heck of a lot longer.
If you happen to have chickens or know someone who does, they can be ground up and fed as a calcium supplement. Oyster shells are sold commercially for this. It also works with old chicken egg shells.
when i was younger i ate these all the time!! my mom was very crafty, and we bought a plain wooden frame from the craft store. we glued them on in a pattern, and put pictures of us at the beach in them!! also, we bought a plain wreath from the craft store, made it all with shells and tied a bow at the bottom with some blue ribbon. then we put that on the door of our beach house!!!
how can I make tiles from mussel shells?
I want to know too.
the shells can also be used as dishwashers.
I haven’t tried this yet- but what about using shells to line a gas bbq grill?
Seems to me that they would hold/reflect heat well, and break up the flame to more-evenly cook.
If/when the break down too much, scoop ‘em out and add them to the garden somewhere.
Maybe.
I’ve been researching possible uses for mussel shells and discovered a web site about a vigneron in New Zealand using mussel shells under the grapevines in his vineyard as a mulch and to decrease ripening time. Also suggests it may quicken ripening of citrus fruits.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/marlboroughexpress/4241111a6563.html
http://www.gardeningtipsnideas.com/2007/10/mussel_shell_mulch_what_will_they_use_next.html
They can be used to make beautiful nautical style wreaths with rope bows
can we try this: mussel shells a substitute for commercialized tiles
I saw a beautifull chandelier in Southern Accents Mag. this month. Looks like they used about 1,ooo shells. I might try it.
I am really interest in get marine mussel shells
If you have a restaurant or fish shop and have mussels shells
please contact with me in:
http://www.shop.etropicals.co.uk/contact_us.html?
I get all your mussel shells
I know of some aqua-culture plans and strategies that rely on shell being used as a habitat base for the next “crop” it’s used with scallops, and oysters shell’s. and i believe that mussel shells can be used in the same way. Returned to their natural environment.