June 8, 2025
By Toby Scofield

In a world where uncertainty is the norm, there are still people working to carve out a brighter future—for themselves, their friends, and their communities. Pickerington Central’s Teen EcoSummit Team is one such group, striving to make their school cafeteria more sustainable. But why is transforming the cafeteria so important?

That’s one of the questions answered by Kate Seaver, a recent graduate and the captain of the EcoSummit Team. “We are helping to reduce the waste that the school produces,” she said.

But what does that look like? How much waste is Pickerington Central’s cafeteria producing?

Cafeteria Waste – Let’s do the math.

According to the World Wildlife Fund—whose mission is “to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth”—schools in the United States generate approximately 530,000 tons of food waste per year. Notably, this number does not include discarded milk, which was calculated separately.

To estimate Pickerington Central’s share of that waste, we need to break it down to a per-student figure. Fortunately, the World Wildlife Fund provides this too: based on observations from 46 schools in several states (including Columbus and Cincinnati), the average student generates 39.2 pounds of food waste per school year.

With nearly 2,000 students at Central, that adds up to an estimated 78,400 pounds of food waste every school year—from just one building.

Introducing the Share Table

To help reduce the amount of waste headed to landfills, the EcoSummit Team introduced a Share Table in the cafeteria. Share Tables are just what they sound like, a designated place where students can leave uneaten, unopened food for others to take. At the end of each lunch period, volunteers collect the remaining items to reset the table, and any leftover food is donated to the Pickerington Food Pantry after school.

Of course, health guidelines place some restrictions on what can be shared. Unpackaged items like a loose apple aren’t allowed, as they could carry bacteria or viruses if handled by someone ill. However, foods in sealed packaging—like bagged apple slices—or those with natural, peelable protection (such as bananas or oranges) are permitted.

“It does more than limit the amount of waste produced at our school,” said Braeden Neff, a junior on the EcoSummit Team. “It also helps people in need.”

In the first six weeks, the Share Table diverted roughly 216 pounds of food from the trash and into the hands of those who could use it.

Doesn’t food waste decompose in the landfills?

Not quite. As Dr. Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D., explains in How Landfills Work, “The purpose of a landfill is to bury the trash in such a way that it will be isolated from groundwater, will be kept dry and will not be in contact with air. Under these conditions, trash will not decompose much.” In contrast, compost piles are designed to encourage decomposition.

That’s why the next step in the EcoSummit Team’s plan is composting. After pitching the idea and receiving a grant from Battelle and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the team is preparing to implement compost bins in the cafeteria during the 2025–2026 school year.

Not only would this reduce even more waste, but the team also hopes to replace styrofoam lunch trays with compostable ones. If even half of Central’s students buy lunch, that’s 5,000 trays per week—or approximately 180,000 trays per school year—that could be composted instead of languishing in a landfill for centuries.

But the EcoSummit Team’s vision goes beyond Central. Yes, one school produces a lot of waste—but so do other schools. And households. And restaurants. And grocery stores. The hope is that Central’s initiatives will spark broader change, encouraging others to adopt more sustainable food practices too.

After all, nobody wants a landfill in their backyard—so let’s work together to make sure fewer are needed.