Our Mission
We aim to improve our community by providing two needs to the city of New Orleans: aluminum can recycling, and meal distribution to disadvantaged people.
We collect aluminum cans, reusable plastic containers, and disposable utensils from people around the city. We never buy new containers or utensils for meals; everything is excess that would otherwise go to waste.
We do monthly residential and business pick-ups, and also have free drop-offs at two locations. We recycle the cans for cash, and use the cash to buy food, and cook meals. These meals get packaged in the plastic containers we collect, and get distributed with utensils to the New Orleans Community Fridges and unhoused people in the city.
We also set up bins at events around the city! If you would like us to set up at your event, you can send us an email.
What about the city’s recycling program?
Like many other cities, New Orleans DOES have a recycling program, however, you may notice that most houses don’t even have recycle bins. Furthermore, when recycling is picked up, many recyclable materials are lost in the sorting process, creating more waste that goes into the landfill. Nola Cans 4 Food was created as a way to recycle, know where your materials are going and how it benefits the community. We scrap our cans at EMR Southern Recycling and get cash in hand, which we use to buy our ingredients for the meals.