Lunch Out of Landfills

Through waste sorts, Sharetables, and education around composting and waste management, students make their school a centre of changing norms around food waste and food redistribution with the guidance of a Staff Champion who receives a stipend and support every step of the way.

By educating school children about systems of food waste and food inequity, student leaders can become champions, diverting over 80% from landfills and incinerators by composting organics, decontaminating, recycling and recovering massive amounts of unopened milk juice, apples, bananas, and vegetables. This student led, staff guided, program will change the process of waste disposal in schools ...

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By educating school children about systems of food waste and food inequity, student leaders can become champions, diverting over 80% from...

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Join the communities already benefitting from starting a Lunch Out of Landfills

You'll get guides and resources on how to bring this idea to life.

There is no funding available for this idea in Colombia, but these resources will still help to make your project happen!

Not in Colombia? Change your region
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When I started at Urbana, there were ten huge trash bins and maybe three or four small recycling bins. One of my teachers told me that Urbana doesn’t recycle and after a look at our contaminated waste stream, I could see why she said it. In the mi...

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Lunch Out of Landfills
Student Leader at Urbana High School

How to start a project on ChangeX

  • 1

    Create your project page

    Click the green start button to register and set up your project page. It’s quick, free and easy.

  • 2

    Complete a 30 Day Challenge

    Complete simple steps in 30 days to get your project off the ground.

  • 3

    Activate your project

    Follow the 5 Step Guide and your action plan to bring the project to life.

  • 4

    Share impact

    Share impact by posting a summary and photos and completing a survey.

Great for

  • teachers and administrators who work with grades 5-12
  • thinks their school can be the center of change for a greener planet
  • would be interested in being supported in working with student leaders with a stipend and structure
  • wants to support students in learning about how they can lead the change in their schools and communities

Lunch Out of Landfills project essentials

5 Step Guide

  • Form your Green Team
  • Crown your Staff Champions
  • Plan a Waste Sort
  • Build a Sharetable
  • Educate and Grow

Time

Suggested: Lunch Out of Landfills is committed to being a dynamic program that meets schools where they are. Getting started with a one-time waste sort and Sharetable is a one-day project that requires one week of preparation. Maintaining this system of waste reduction and education is an ongoing process in each school for years to come, and each Green Team can decide what that looks like for them: a monthly hourly meeting is suggested.

Resources

More information on how to get started and any resources shared by the Lunch Out of Landfills

7 Lunch Out of Landfills projects have already been started

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Meet the Social Innovator

Welcome to Lunch Out of Landfills! We're happy you're here and passionate about creating a better, greener, cleaner Earth. Whether you are a young person, a teacher, a parent, a nature lover, or simply know someone in one of those categories, you are an integral part of our community and movement.

Mountainside Education and Enrichment

7 Lunch Out of Landfills projects have already been started

See where

Members

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Why a 30 day challenge?

    The 30 Day Challenge was developed by our Team based on our experience working with communities. We’ve learned that the first weeks are critical to build momentum and get off to a good start with any community project. Teams who complete these steps within the first month are much more likely to successfully complete their project!

    The Challenge is a series of simple steps that each applicant has to complete to get their project off the ground and unlock funding, if there is funding currently available for that idea in your region. Steps include watching a video and/or reading content, having a call with a ChangeX team member, forming a team so that you have support, having your first team meeting, sharing a team photo, and sharing a project action plan.

  • What can funding be used for?

    Once funding is received it can be used to cover direct set-up costs of the new community project. For example space rental, insurance fees, seeds and planting materials, tools, training fees; pretty much any materials you might need for a project that benefits your community.

    Funds cannot be used for the costs of work that has already been carried out, costs unrelated to the setup and maintenance of the new project, payments to group members for their work on the project. Funds can’t be used for the promotion of religious causes, non-charitable activities, sponsorship or fundraising events. Please read the terms and conditions for further details.

  • How do I know if there is funding available?

    On idea pages, if there is funding available for the idea in your region you will see “Funding available” and the region listed in the turquoise box. When you first login you will also see a green banner at the top of the screen saying “live funds near you” if there is funding available in your region. The ChangeX homepage will feature those live funds near you.

    A note on the waitlist: when all the funding has been allocated to applicants, new applicants will go on a waitlist. If some applicants that are in the fund don’t successfully complete the 30 Day Challenge their funding will be released and can be then allocated to those on the waitlist. To see if you are going on a waitlist check the main fund page, ideas fully allocated will have the note “Join the waitlist” instead of “Apply to start”.

  • What is ChangeX?

    ChangeX is a platform that connects communities to proven ideas and funding.

    By empowering local changemakers with proven ideas from social innovators and accessible funding from our partners, we aim to build healthier, more inclusive and sustainable communities. Our work is aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and together with our partners, we aim to impact 1 billion people globally by 2030.

    • Communities: Get the funding, resources and support you need to start impactful projects in your community.
    • Social innovators: Connect with local changemakers, access funding to scale your idea, and impact more communities globally.
    • Funders: Fund the themes and regions they care most about, with measurable impact, and at global scale.

    We believe that by bringing the best social innovations and the world’s changemakers together in a shared community, we can accelerate the spread of innovations across the world and have a bigger impact. Together we aim to unleash the potential of changemakers by enabling collaboration, by sharing knowledge and resources, by connecting changemakers across different disciplines and innovations and by opening up access to the world’s best proven social innovations to everyone.

Other ideas in the Nickelodeon Our World US Community Fund

  • Open Orchard

    Organise an Open Orchard to bring people together, provide free fruit to local residents and green our urban environments.

  • International Coastal Cleanup®

    Ready to #SeaTheChange and organize your own cleanup?

  • Playworks

    Leverage evidence-based play strategies to transform the culture of your recess, classroom, or youth program!

  • Eartheasy School Garden

    From launching your garden committee to hosting a school-wide ‘dig day’, learn how to start a school garden for education, eating, and fun.

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