“Project Dumpster Dive”, which we started in 2016 when we were students at Ridgewood High School, aims to create a lasting awareness about hunger, sustainability, and waste among elementary school children. We believe reaching people when they are young will have the greatest long-term impact.

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When we bring “Project Dumpster Dive” to an elementary school, we dig through, sort and secretly perform an actual audit of the kids’ very own lunchtime trash and then use video footage of the entire process captured with GoPro cameras to drive home the extent of the everyday lunchroom waste. Through this unusual method, we are able to link larger, societal issues (like hunger, sustainability, and waste) to these children’s everyday lunchtime actions.

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The video, photos and statistics that we collect serve as a powerful jumping off point for discussion as we share them to the kids in an assembly format. The kids are always shocked at the enormous amount of plastic and perfectly good food we dig out of their trash. And there’s no bigger “wow” factor for young children than seeing someone sift through disgusting, smelly, soggy garbage!

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​We are proud to share that, in many of the schools we’ve visited, principals have reported a noticeable shift in students' awareness and behavior regarding the food they waste during lunchtime.