Wearable waste: Sweaters made from oyster shells, plastic bottles

A Massachusetts company is aiming to make oceans and landfills a little bit cleaner by making sweaters out of oyster shells and plastic bottles.

Mike Lamagna, the founder of Long Wharf Supply Co., said customers are often surprised to learn each sweater in his company's Seawell Collection is made from four to five oyster shells and about eight recycled water bottles.

"They're shocked every single time," Lamagna told WCVB-TV.

Lamagna said water bottles are a major source of ocean pollution, and oyster shells sent to landfills causes the calcium carbonate in the shells to break down slowly and become toxic.

The sales of the sweaters benefit the MA Oyster Project, which aims to "seed" recycled oyster shells back into the ocean, where they create substrate for baby oysters, animals that naturally filter the ocean water.

"Every piece can reseed up to 30 oysters, which will naturally filter up to 1,500 gallons of seawater every single day," Lamagna said.