ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — As of the beginning of this school year, 21 schools participating in an Orange County Public Schools pilot program have composted more than 151,000 pounds of food, a district spokesperson said.

In efforts to reduce food waste, the district has also donated close to 25,000 pounds of unused food to local nonprofits, the spokesperson said.

While students are in class, the kitchen behind cafeteria doors at Sand Lake Elementary School is always bustling with activity as meals are prepared. It’s how Melissa Hunt spends her days.

But Hunt’s kitchen has recently undertaken new initiatives to prevent food from ending up in landfills.

Old, unusable food at the elementary school now heads to compost bins instead of the garbage, which is part of a larger food recovery initiative at the district.

Students also take part, as they dump leftovers they don’t plan on eating in the bins.

On top of having an effect on the environment, Hunt said the schools’ programs also help students learn about sustainability.

“(Students aren’t) just reading about it and stuff like when we went to school,” said Hunt, the OCPS dual food service manager. “They’re actually doing something about it.”

Their compost is collected, and in return, schools with community gardens can use it to grow new fruits, vegetables and flowers.

Sand Lake Elementary also has what school officials have dubbed “share tables.” Students drop off their unused, unopened milk or prepackaged snacks at a table, where the food is collected for food donations.

From there, everything is weighed, boxed and dropped off to local nonprofits.

This school year, Sand Lake Elementary School has donated roughly 9,800 pounds of food or milk.

“Today’s delivery is going to St. Paul. I know they feed a lot of people over there,” said April Flowers, a driver for foodrecovery.org. “It’s just awesome that we can do these things instead of throwing the food away. There are so many people. People are hungry out here.”