Our Mission

Lunch Out of Landfill's (LOOL) mission is to enable students K-12 to become solution-focused change-makers to address our planet’s climate emergency through food waste prevention. Our student-driven initiative incorporates a systemic change by introducing composting, effective recycling, and food recovery. Change starts here but continues for generations.

Currently, LOOL backs composting programs at over 20 schools throughout the nation. We are on track to have over 200 schools composting in the 2023 - 2024 school year! Visit the Resources tab for information on how to start composting at your school, current food diversion statistics from participating schools, and more.

Why is composting important?

Organic waste in landfills generates potent greenhouse gasses which contributes to our climate warming. Annually, roughly 8% of anthropogenic greenhouses are caused by food waste (this is even more than air travel!). By diverting organics from the landfills, through methods such as composting, methane emissions are significantly reduced.

According to the Drawdown initiative, reducing food waste is the 3rd most effective strategy (out of more than 80!) for reversing global warming. See “2020 Drawdown Review” for more information. Also check out "The Soil Story" to see more on how applying compost to soil will help remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere.

Advocacy

Visit the News tab to see how students have been advocating for composting and food diversion outside of school. Students go above and beyond from creating their own nonprofits to testifying on house and senate bills, attending conferences to teach other schools how to get started, and more!

Student Kick-starters

Bavan Nadarajah

Oakdale High School alumnus

Bavan began working with Lunch out of Landfills in 2019 at the beginning of his Sophomore year. As a kick-starter for the program, he worked alongside Joe Richardson in co-starting LOOL expansion efforts by rolling out the program at his school, presenting at various conferences/events, meeting with county Board of Education members on budget committees, working on/supporting environmental legislation on the county and state levels, and more. Bavan is currently in a gap year and spends part of his time working for MEE as he focuses on exploring his passion for sustainability through an economic and data lens. The rest of his time goes toward researching, traveling, writing, working on a political campaign, and exploring nature.