HAMDEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Turning lunch into a lesson, one Hamden school is educating kids on how to save the planet.

Walk into Bear Path Elementary School in Hamden and you’ll find a group of kids who love the planet they live on.

“We don’t have any other place to live, so we have to protect the planet we have,” noted Lily Sacco, a sixth-grade Bear Path student and member of the Green Team.

These students are dedicated to preserving Earth, one lunch tray at a time.

“I’m the trash bin person, so I make sure people don’t put the wrong things in the trash,” said Sacco.

Each lunch period, the Green Team eats, suits up, and takes position to monitor the rest of the student body, ensuring they dispose of waste properly.

From trash, recycling, and compost, the Food Waste Diversion Program is not only working, but they’ve become dedicated.

“The one day we couldn’t recycle because our bins were filled they were like, they couldn’t bring themselves to throw something in the trash because they’re like no, we can recycle this,” said Doreen Stohler, the Green Team organizer.

There’s even a food share table, anything that isn’t eaten by other students gets donated to shelters. These kids have it down to a science, and they’re ready to share their skills with the rest of the state.

Stohler is working to make this program a model for other schools across Connecticut.

“It’s amazing. I don’t know why we’re all not doing it,” she noted.

“We never knew paper towels were compostable, so we’ve been just throwing our stuff out at home and we had all this stuff is recyclable,” said William Prokosh, a sixth-grader.

Now, the students are raising money to buy a new refrigerator and food sorter. They need $1,000 more in order for the state to match their money in the form of a grant.

Here’s a link to the fundraiser if you want to help these selfless students.