Restaurant owners like Ram Ramgiri at Mynt Indian Cuisine in San Jose have a difficult problem to deal with every day. The grease used to cook throughout the day accumulates, and they need to dispose of it, a task that costs the restaurant money.

Senior Vishal Goel, sophomore Nikhil Goel, and junior Shreyas Doshi, through their collaborative effort on Project SEED, have devised a system that both helps the restaurant owners like Ramgiri with this conundrum and earns funds for the school.

Project SEED’s current venture links the cooking oil recycling companies, Salinas and Sirona, with local restaurants through CaresForSchools programs, in which local venues “pledge” their oil to the school.

“[We] act as salesmen and middlemen for the companies to the restaurants,” Nikhil said.

This is beneficial not only to the school but also to the restaurants. Restaurants usually have to pay for the services of disposing cooking oil waste. But since the school is a non-profit entity, the restaurants who “pledge” their oil to the school earn a tax-deductible receipt for the amount donated.

“Under this program, everyone benefits: SHS raises money, restaurants save money and [the oil recycling] companies get business,” Vishal said. “Another side effect benefit is that it disposes of cooking oil waste in an environmentally friendly way—one oil recycling company we work with converts the waste into biodiesel.”

Through this mutually beneficial system, Project SEED has already raised several hundred dollars by working with the local venues Cash and Carry, Lakshmi Bazaar and The Mynt Indian Restaurant in San Jose and Hindu Temple in Santa Clara. The three members hope to generate $10,000 per year for the school.

Yet this is only the tip of the iceberg for Project SEED. It has already garnered support from the teachers P.J. Yim, Arnoldo Rodriguex, Kim Anzalone and Kirk Davis.
Once enough funds are raised, the three founders plan on creating a committee comprised of a handful of teachers and students to distribute the funds as they deem fit as grants to other teachers, clubs and organizations on campus.

They also plan on setting up other projects that will bring in funds, including a car battery recycling program.

By the start of the next school year, the founders may also expand the club to bring in speakers on entrepreneurship or create school events with a similar theme.
Vishal said students who want to get involved can start now.

“If your family owns a restaurant, or you know someone whose parents own a restaurant, then it is your duty as a Saratoga High School student to sign them up with Project SEED,” Vishal said.