1859 Sept | Oct 2018

what i’m working on
David Bantz is the owner
of He Sells These Shells.
Selling Shells
Reducing waste, and saving the
environment, with hazelnut shells
interview and photography by Vanessa Salvia
TURNS OUT, Oregon’s hazelnuts are good
for more than making pies, cookies and
eating out of hand. Tualatin resident David
Bantz, owner of He Sells These Shells, sells
cracked, bagged hazelnut shells to garden
centers and at farmers markets, and has
participated in research looking into how
effective hazelnut shells are at removing
toxins from water.
At home, Bantz has set aside a large
area near his driveway where he unloads
truckloads of hazelnut shells—80,000
pounds at a time. He bags them by hand and
delivers them himself. Around his home, the
hazelnut shells fill pots and line pathways,
where this quintessential Oregon resource
really shines. About 67,000 acres in Oregon
are dedicated to growing the nut.
How did you get into selling hazelnut
shells?
In 2008, I lost my job in land-use
planning after the bottom fell out for
land development. I found a couple
part-time jobs in my field and didn’t
like them, so I came home and told
my wife, Sharie, that I was going to
sell hazelnut shells! I had purchased
some a number of years ago at a
farmers market in Beaverton. I found
a processor to buy directly from, and
bought an antique weighing scale
and started filling bags by hand. I’m
selling to about twenty-five individual
buyers that contact me directly, at
the Milwaukie farmers market, a
few hardware stores, the Backyard
Bird Shop in West Linn and at thirtythree
garden centers from Seattle to
Cottage Grove. I also get about eight
out of ten of my bags back for refills. I
fill orders the same day or within two
days. Sharie can get thirty 25-pound
bags in her Kia Soul so she delivers for
me when I can’t.
What are the benefits of using
hazelnut shells rather than other
mulches?
The nut processors don’t have any
desire for the shells, so in the past
those have ended up being burned or
buried. So using them helps alleviate
that. The cracked shells are pointy and
rough, so slugs don’t like to crawl on
them and cats don’t like to dig in them.
They keep weeds from germinating
because the shells are very dense,
and in the sun they get really warm
while also keeping the ground below
them cooler, so weed seeds don’t
germinate. The shells last for seven
to eight seasons, while you have to
replace bark mulch every year or two.
They can be used to smoke meats and
they add a nice flavor to barbecue. In
fact, one of the uses I’m looking into is
pelletizing them for wood stoves. You
can pile the shells in the bottom of large
pots to make them lighter and easier to
move around.
Tell me about the water quality
research into hazelnut shells.
The Port of Vancouver, a student at
Cal Poly-Pomona and Georgia Tech
have all used my shells for testing
water quality. They’ve all found similar
results. The Georgia study found that
contaminated stormwater can be
cleaned in the most effective way with
nut shells in a burlap bag. The hazelnut
filter removed more fecal coliform,
hydrocarbons and heavy metals better
than the $500 commercial filter.
64 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2018