Powderface—Local Coffee Shop
Dine-in reusable foodware saves $3,000 annually.
Located in Oakland's Fruitvale Village, Powderface is a small café offering both take-out and dine-in service. They serve coffee, smoothies and other hot and cold beverages, sandwiches, crepes as well as southern-style beignets. They converted to 100% reusable foodware items for their dine-in customers, with the help of a Reusable Foodware Mini-Grant from StopWaste. The shift is projected to prevent over 77,000 disposable items (over 1,500 pounds) and save the café $3,000 annually.
Hogar Latino Restaurante—Bakery & Restaurant
Dine-in reusable foodware saves $3,000 annually.
Hogar Latino Panadería y Restaurant is a neighborhood spot in Oakland serving Honduran and Salvadoran food, including what many consider some of the best tamales, juices and frozen treats in the city. With the help of a Reusable Foodware Mini-Grant from StopWaste, they converted from disposable plastic and paper cups and plastic utensils to reusable tumblers, mugs and real silverware for their dine-in customers. The shift is projected to prevent over 26,000 disposable items and save the restaurant over $3,000 annually.
Cragmont Elementary, Berkeley—Public School
Stainless-steel lunch trays prevent 100,000 single-use disposables annually.
Cragmont Elementary School in the Berkeley Unified School District serves 155 lunches each day, 180 days a year. They replaced disposable molded fiber trays, plastic spork packets and paper cups with stainless steel trays, forks and cups. The reusable foodware, purchased partially with a grant from StopWaste, is washed in Cragmont’s existing on-site dish washing machine, with minimal additional labor. The change prevents 100,000 single-use items and saves the school $500 annually in avoided foodware purchases and reduced waste collection costs.
Hang Ten Boiler—Seafood Restaurant
Dine-in reusable foodware saves $4,000 a year
Hang Ten Boiler is a popular spot in Alameda known for their delicious Hawaiian, Asian fusion and Cajun seafood dishes, including boil-in-a-bag options with crab, crawfish and shrimp. With the help of StopWaste's Reusable Mini-grant, they converted from an almost entirely disposable operation to reusable tumblers, plates, bowls, silverware, and sauce cups for their dine-in customers. The shift is projected to prevent over 318,000 disposable items (over 7,500 pounds) and save the restaurant nearly $4,000 annually.
Julie's Coffee and Tea Garden, Alameda, CA
Key Takeaways
Businesses that switch to reusables typically see:
- Cost savings of $2,000–$4,000+ per year on packaging
- Waste reduction of 40,000–100,000+ disposable items annually
- Customer support — diners appreciate the improved dining experience & sustainable practices
Ready to Get Started?
StopWaste provides up to $500 in reusable foodware plus free hands-on support for qualifying businesses.