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Previously Funded Grants

Since 1996, StopWaste has provided more than $9 million in funding to local organizations for innovative projects that decrease the amount of waste generated and sent to the county's landfills, and encourage the development, marketing and use of recycled products. The grants program is currently focused on funding waste prevention and reuse, refill and repair projects. Below is a searchable database of grant recipients from 2017 to 2023.

Reusable Transport Packaging Grants
Grantee Project Locations Fiscal Year Amount Description
Agricultural Institute of Marin Newark, Oakland FY22-23 $10,000

The Agricultural Institute of Marin (AIM)’s mission is to educate, inspire, and connect communities, responsible farmers, and producers as part of a healthy, Earth-friendly, equitable local and regional food system. Funds will supply approximately 500 reusable plastic totes to transport fresh produce to Alameda County farmer's markets to eight BIPOC farmers who are enrolled in AIM's racial equity program called the "Incubator Booth". The Incubator Booth program supports beginning BIPOC farmers get established at farmer's markets.

Donut Petit Alameda County FY22-23 $10,000

Donut Petit's City of Alameda artisanal doughnut shop sources local and organic ingredients to create classic and unique flavors. In 2021-22, Donut Petit received funding to purchase 150 reusable containers to transport donuts from their commercial kitchen in Alameda to farmers markets, fairs, events, and catering. Building on the success of that initial grant, these additional funds will allow the bakery to purchase 191 additional reusable bakery boxes to match the growing need.

Good Eggs, Inc. Alameda County FY22-23 $5,000

Good Eggs delivers fresh groceries and prepped meals straight to consumers, while supporting and growing local & sustainable food systems. Meals are prepped and prepared at the Good Eggs Kitchen based in Oakland with a second distribution warehouse in Los Angeles. Funds will be used to replace single use pallets and plastic pallet wrap with 70 reusable pallets and 70 reusable pallet wraps for shipments between the Oakland and Los Angeles warehouses, as well as reusable totes for distribution of goods between select vendors and donation partners.

Mercy Brown Bag Program Alameda County FY22-23 $9,250

Mercy Brown Bag Program serves food-insecure adults over the age of 60 in Alameda County through their free grocery program. The project will fund an initial pilot to replace single-use paper grocery bags with reusable bags for distribution at three senior centers that receive food through their mobile grocery program. Pending results of the pilot, a second phase will be implemented to expand the program to up to 10 sites in Alameda County.

Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project Oakland FY21-22 $10,000

Acta Non Verba (ANV) elevates life in East Oakland by challenging oppressive dynamics and environments through urban farming and creates a safe and creative outdoor space for children, youth, and families, by strengthening their understanding of nutrition, food production, and healthy living and building their ties to the community. ANV’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) connects Oakland homes to small local farmers, currently distributing produce in paper bags to 300+ customers. Funds will be used to replace paper bags with 175 reusable tote bags and 300 reusable crates for CSA distribution. This will eliminate 14,400 single-use paper bags saving 1,746 pounds of waste annually.

Agricultural Institute of Marin Hayward, Newark, Oakland FY21-22 $10,000

The Agriculture Institute of Marin (AIM) currently manages seven Certified Farmers Markets in the Bay Area (San Francisco, Alameda, and Marin Counties), a mobile market, and provides hands-on educational programs to thousands of children and adults about the connections between the environment, agriculture, and health. This third round of grant funds will be used to purchase 875 more reusable plastic totes and distribute them to eight farm participants to transport produce to farmer’s markets in Oakland, Hayward, and Newark. It is estimated that the reusable totes will prevent the purchase, use, and disposal of 5,105 wax-coated cardboard boxes annually (6,637 pounds) with an estimated cost savings to farmers of over $6,000/year.

Blue Bottle Coffee Berkeley FY21-22 $5,385

Blue Bottle Coffee was founded in Oakland in 2002 with a simple yet revolutionary idea: serve delicious coffee, roasted fresh and brewed to order, sourced from sustainable coffee farms. Funds will be used to purchase four bulk containers to transport coffee beans from their West Sacramento Roastery to the Gilman Brewery. Additionally, 10 reusable pallets will replace limited-use wooden pallets used to move spent coffee grounds. As a result, 5,876 lbs of wood and 700 lbs of plastic will be eliminated per year.

Donut Petit Alameda FY21-22 $6,535

Donut Petit's City of Alameda artisanal doughnut shop sources local and organic ingredients to create classic and unique flavors, uses environmentally conscious packaging, and donates leftover goods to reduce food waste. Funds will replace single use bakery boxes with 150 reusable containers (clear food storage boxes) for transporting donuts from their commercial kitchen in Alameda to farmers markets, fairs, events, and catering. This will result in the reduction of 1,200 single-use cardboard bakery boxes per year.

Emerald Packaging Union City FY21-22 $6,711

Emerald Packaging is the largest flexible packaging supplier in the country and in the development of new films using post-consumer resin. The project will replace cardboard gaylord boxes, plastic pallet wrap, and wood pallets with reusable collapsible bulk containers to move manufacturing supplies within their production plant.

PACE Supply Corporation Oakland FY21-22 $10,000

PACE Supply is a wholesale distributor of plumbing supplies (pipe, valves, fittings, etc.) with 17 wholesale locations in California and two in Alameda County (Oakland and Dublin). This reusable transport packaging pilot project will replace wooden pallets, cardboard boxes, and plastic film with 8 intermediate bulk containers (IBC’s) for daily shipments of plumbing supplies from the Stockton Distribution Center to the Oakland wholesale location.

Agricultural Institute of Marin Hayward, Newark, Oakland FY20-21 $10,000

The Agriculture Institute of Marin (AIM) currently manages seven Certified Farmers Markets in the Bay Area (San Francisco, Alameda, and Marin Counties), a mobile market, and provides hands-on educational programs to thousands of children and adults about the connections between the environment, agriculture, and health. Grant funds will be used to purchase 875 more reusable plastic totes and distribute them to eight new farm participants to transport produce to farmer’s markets in Oakland, Hayward, and Newark. It is estimated that the reusable totes will prevent the purchase, use, and disposal of 6,637 lbs. of cardboard boxes annually with an estimated cost savings of over $6,000/year.

Elder Care Alliance Community Mercy Retirement & Care Center Alameda County FY20-21 $7,320

The Mercy Brown Bag Program, a project under the Elder Care Alliance Community Mercy Retirement and Care Center, coordinates the distribution of nutritious groceries to over 8,000 older adults twice a month, free of charge. Funds will be used to purchase 40 reusable pallet wraps to replace plastic wrap used to secure pallets of groceries for transport to 90 senior facilities throughout Alameda County. It is estimated that the reusable pallet wraps will prevent the purchase, use, and disposal of 27,500 lbs. of plastic wrap each year, equivalent to 17 miles of plastic, with an estimated cost savings of $1,000 per year in avoided plastic wrap purchases.

Sankofa Garden Oakland FY20-21 $5,000

Sankofa Garden is a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing community wellness, nutrition, and food access through food growing, education, empowerment and celebration of multicultural heritage. Community green spaces are leveraged to address food security as a basic human right and not denied to our most vulnerable populations. Funds will be used to purchase 250 reusable totes and 4 reusable pallets to transport produce from Worm Whisperer Farm in Sacramento to the Oakland Sankofa Garden residents. It is estimated that the reusable totes and pallets will prevent the purchase, use, and disposal of 13,270 lbs. of cardboard boxes and 640 lbs. of wooden pallets annually with an estimated cost savings of $25,600 per year in avoided waxed cardboard box and pallet purchases.

Uhuru Foods & Pies LLC Alameda County FY20-21 $4,369

Uhuru Foods & Pies builds commerce by and between African people worldwide by putting control of food, food production and distribution into the hands of black people once again through baking and selling pies. Funds will be used to replace approximately 1,500 cardboard boxes and 7,200 linear feet of packing tape annually with 300 reusable totes to transport handmade pies from the bakery into retail locations in Alameda County. It is estimated that the reusable totes will prevent the purchase, use, and disposal of more than 900 lbs. of cardboard and packing tape annually, with an estimated cost savings of $2,200 per year.

Biologic Environmental Services & Waste Solutions Alameda County FY19-20 $9,320

Biologic Environmental Services & Waste Solutions is an in-County medical waste service provider. Funds will be used to replace cardboard boxes and wooden pallets with 36 reusable plastic totes for transporting medical waste from approximately 700 medical facilities located throughout California, 130 of which are located in Alameda County. The medical waste will be transported in the reusable containers to an incinerator where they are unloaded, then the totes are returned to Biologic to be sanitized for reuse. It is estimated that the reusable totes will prevent the purchase, use, and incineration of 19,440 lbs of cardboard boxes and wooden pallets annually.

Commex Corporation Hayward, Union City FY19-20 $10,000

Commex Corporation provides food grade plastic film for packaging. Grant funds will be used to replace single-use wooden pallets with 138 reusable pallets to transport shipments of film plastic to Emerald Packaging in Union City. The reusable pallets will prevent the purchase, use, and disposal of approximately 16.5 tons of wooden pallets annually.

Corporate eWaste Solutions Alameda County FY19-20 $3,500

Corporate eWaste Solutions is a Hayward based certified electronics reuse and recycling provider. Equipment grant funds will be used to replace limited-use cardboard gaylords, wooden pallets, and plastic wrap with reusable moving carts and pallet wrap to transport electronics from Alameda County clients and e-waste collection events to their Hayward warehouse. The 15 reusable office carts and pallet wraps will prevent the purchase, use, and disposal of roughly 18,180 lbs of cardboard gaylords, wooden pallets, and plastic wrap annually.

Philz Coffee Alameda FY19-20 $7,000

Philz Coffee is a coffee roaster retailer with over 50 coffee shops, as well as wholesale and online roasted coffee sales. Funds will be used to replace single-use plastic pallet wrap with 48 reusable pallet wraps for weekly shipments of coffee beans from their third-party warehouse in San Leandro to the Philz Coffee Roasting Plant in Oakland. It is estimated that the reusable pallet wraps will prevent the purchase, use, and disposal of disposal of 1,822 lbs of plastic pallet wrap each year.

Riverdog Farm Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Oakland FY19-20 $10,000

Riverdog Farm is a 450 acre certified organic farm located in Capay Valley. Funds will be used to replace waxed cardboard boxes with 1,060 reusable plastic totes to transport produce to Alameda County farm box customers. The reusable totes will prevent the purchase, use, and disposal of approximately 8,750 lbs of waxed cardboard boxes and 52 rolls of butcher paper annually.

Agricultural Institute of Marin Alameda County FY18-19 $10,000

AIM currently manages seven Certified Farmers Markets in the Bay Area (San Francisco, Alameda, and Marin Counties), a mobile market, and provides hands-on educational programs to thousands of children and adults about the connections between the environment, agriculture, and health. AIM will coordinate this project on behalf of 8 participating farms to replace 14,400 cardboard boxes with 645 reusable plastic totes for transporting produce to East Bay markets over a five year period.

Berkeley Food Network Berkeley FY18-19 $5,555

BFN's Food Recovery Program is working to close the gap between the number of people in Berkeley experiencing food insecurity and available food-assistance services. They will purchase reusable plastic pallets and totes to replace limited-use wooden pallets and cardboard boxes, temperature controlled food storage equipment (e.g. thermal blankets and hot/cold boxes) to keep recovered food at the proper temperature to prevent edible food from spoiling, and reusable food containers to reduce the use of disposable aluminum trays. These measure will allow the recovery of approximately 200,000 lbs. of edible food each year.

Drake's Brewery San Leandro FY18-19 $5,000

Drake’s Brewery will replace approximately 290,000 feet of plastic film and 16,640 pounds of wooden pallets per year by purchasing 32 reusable plastic pallets, 12 pallet wraps, and 300 pallet bands to move raw materials and finished product across the brewery’s production spaces.

Emerald Packaging Union City FY18-19 $5,000

Emerald Packaging has been manufacturing and distributing flexible packaging throughout California and North America for over 50 years. They are replacing the high-density non-recyclable paper cores with 240 reusable plastic cores for transporting film packaging (1 reusable core replaces 20 fiber cores).

Hall's Organic Farms Alameda County FY18-19 $3,500

Hall's Farm will replace approximately 5,800 waxed cardboard boxes per year by purchasing 400 reusable plastic crates for weekly delivery of produce from their Salinas Valley farm to five restaurants and two farmer’s markets in Alameda County.

Daylight Foods Alameda County FY17-18 $5,000

Funds used to purchase 20 reusable wraps, 20 reusable pallets, and 50 reusable totes to deliver produce daily from Milpitas to UC Berkeley.

Planetary Products, Inc. Berkeley FY17-18 $4,600

Funds used to purchase 150 reusable totes which are used to deliver ready-to-eat packaged meals to grocery stores throughout the Bay Area, eliminating 2500 corrugated boxes each year, reducing product loss and improving worker safety.

Gu Energy Berkeley FY16-17 $5,000

Funds 35 reusable pallet wraps to replace plastic film stretch wrap used on stored pallets in warehouse. The project reduces GU's annual shrink wrap waste by 20%, over 43,000 sq. feet.

Local Greens Berkeley FY16-17 $3,000

Replaces 250 limited-use (due to frequent damage) plastic bins used for distribution of produce with 100 durable reusable totes.

Real Food Bay Area CSA Alameda County FY16-17 $5,000

Replaced corrugated boxes with reusable plastic cooler boxes and reusable dividers for distribution of food in a CSA program. The reusable containers reduce food and packaging waste, save space and result in a cleaner warehouse.

South Valley Mushroom Farms Alameda County FY16-17 $4,775

Funds 380 reusable totes which replace corrugated boxes used to store and transport mushrooms to Alameda County farmers markets and preventing over 7,000 lbs. of discarded corrugated boxes/year.

Surplus Service Fremont FY16-17 $5,000

Funded 21 collapsible bulk bins to replace 5 single use gaylord boxes and 5 wood pallets each week. The bins are used for collection and transport of e-waste for reuse and recycling. Over 100 gaylord boxes and pallets (each) are prevented from landfill each year.

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