Teenage co-founder Anthony Woo diverted 300,000+ pounds of food waste

Free curbside composting in New Jersey has diverted more than 300,000 pounds of food waste from landfills through Torus, a youth-led nonprofit co-founded by Anthony Woo. Torus says it serves more than 1,000 households and local businesses, collecting food scraps from the curb every other week at no cost to participants. Anthony was 17 when the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes named him a 2025 runner-up for co-founding the free service. Based in West Windsor, the student-led nonprofit says composting through its service has so far reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1,140,000 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent.Why Anthony Woo started a free composting service after seeing food thrown away in dining hallsAccording to the Barron Prize and Torus, Anthony began his work after seeing uneaten food repeatedly dumped into trash bins in dining halls. He pitched the idea of a free curbside composting service for households and businesses to several friends, who jumped on board. Once the group had secured initial grant funding, he went door to door urging people to compost. He collected plenty of rejections, he said, but slowly gathered sign-ups, and learned that “persistence isn’t just part of the process, it is the process”.The service launched in 2024.