Next time you enjoy Chesapeake Bay oysters, be aware that they could come from your old toilet. The AP, via WTOP, reports that an experiment in Virginia to build artificial reefs from old toilets has created an ideal home for oyster beds. Porcelain shards apparently make good shells. This is good news for the oysters, which have been hit by disease and pollution in the bay.

In other Chesapeake-related news, heavy rains from Hurricane Ivan last month sent a lot of sediment and trash from Pennsylvania and Upstate New York into the upper reaches of the bay, threatening a “rebound in underwater grasses” that are important to crabs and other creatures, the AP reported in September.