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StopWaste Environmental Leadership Awards

This annual awards program honors Alameda County entities for their leadership and innovations in advancing environmental sustainability, waste prevention, and contributions to building healthy, climate resilient communities in Alameda County. Since the inception of the awards program in 2000, well over 100 Alameda County businesses and institutions have been recognized.

The 2025 awards will be held during the Alameda County Recycling Board meeting on Thursday, June 12 at 4:00 p.m., at the StopWaste offices, 1537 Webster Street in Oakland.

 

 

2025 Awardee Highlights: 
 

Alameda Backyard Growers, Alameda 

Excellence in Community Engagement

Alameda Backyard Growers (ABG) is a network of volunteers in the City of Alameda, dedicated to fighting food insecurity by rescuing and redistributing surplus backyard fruit and building community through skill and knowledge sharing about growing food. Started in 2011, their signature initiative “Project Pick” recruits and trains volunteers to glean fruit trees whose owners can’t harvest the excess fruit themselves and donates it to the Alameda Food Bank. To date, the project has donated over 79,000 pounds of fresh fruit. Further strengthening the local food system, ABG donates seeds to the community through six free seed libraries. ABG also offers a wide range of classes, workshops, and events to empower and connect Alameda residents through their shared passion for growing food. Frequent collaborations with partner organizations have resulted in a gleaning guide, food waste prevention campaigns and other projects.

CASA (Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda), Alameda & OKAPI Reusables, for leadership in Alameda 

Excellence in Reusable Foodware Partnership 

CASA (Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda), a grassroots nonprofit in the City of Alameda, and OKAPI Reusables, a purpose-driven company offering a reusable take-out cup system, have formed an innovative partnership to reduce single-use cup waste. With deeply rooted connections and trust in the community, CASA is collaborating with ​OKAPI Reusables ​to bring visibility to the harm caused by single-use cups and promote reusable cup systems as part of the solution. Together, they mentored high school students in producing “The Story of the Cup,” a short documentary film and call to action, and setting up public screening events. They also started a successful youth-led petition to café owners, with signers pledging to patronize businesses that ​​join the Okapi reusable cup program. To date, CASA and Okapi have onboarded 12 Alameda businesses and gained over 500 new members, together preventing an estimated 5,500 single-use cups per year.

Oakland Unified School District, Oakland

Excellence in Sustainability at School

The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) is a pioneer and leader in making food waste prevention and other sustainable practices an integral part of school culture in Alameda County and beyond. Over the past 15 years, they have envisioned, tested, formalized, and rolled out food scrap recycling and food share tables across the district, constantly evolving programs and creating tools and resources to help others replicate them. Working with nonprofit partners and the health department, they relaunched their food rescue program, with plans to expand it next school year. OUSD is the first district in the county to adopt a climate resolution, amplifying its impact through community partnerships. 

 

Veev by Lennar, Hayward

Excellence in Construction Innovation

Veev by Lennar, a home builder based in Hayward, is transforming the construction industry through an innovative, industrialized approach that significantly reduces waste, emissions, and on-site disruption. ​ ​At their 500,000 square foot facility, Veev uses advanced manufacturing to produce customized modular components, which are assembled into turnkey homes in just 60 days. Their homes are built with light gauge steel and high-performance materials instead of wood, making them resistant to fire, pests, and moisture. Fully electrified and gas-free, each home includes solar panels, energy storage, and an EV charger, supporting healthy indoor air and a smaller environmental footprint. Veev currently employs over 300 people in Hayward and advances workforce development through technology-driven, cross-disciplinary roles that strengthen Alameda County’s manufacturing sector.

Washington Health, Fremont

Excellence in Waste Prevention and Food Donation

Washington Health is an independent, community-based health system in Fremont, serving the residents of southern Alameda County. Washington’s care for the wellbeing of their diverse community extends to the environment through a highly efficient surplus food rescue program. They purchased a refrigerator to recover surplus prepared food and partnered with nonprofit Daily Bowl to regularly pick up and redistribute the donations to community members. In the first nine months of the program, Washington Health rescued and donated over 13,000 pounds of surplus food. They have also reduced patient plate waste by more than half since integrating a plate warmer into their dining operations to keep meals warm longer. Further reducing their environmental footprint, Washington serves patient meals on reusable dishes, not disposables, and prioritizes purchasing from local and sustainable sources. They have also optimized the kitchen’s waste sorting stations with custom signage and frequent staff trainings.

Wingen Bakery & Restaurant, Livermore

Excellence in Sustainability at Work

Wingen Bakery & Restaurant in Livermore offers sourdough bread, pastries, and sandwiches as well as breakfast and lunch for dine-in or to go. Owners Aimee and Bryan Wingen have made sustainability a core company value. In front and back of house, recycling, compost, and garbage bins are strategically placed, and staff frequently trained on proper sorting. When questions arise, the Wingens proactively find answers from their hauler Livermore Sanitation (LSI) or City staff to and make adjustments to their operations. As a result, their organics and recycling rarely have contamination. To prevent food waste, they routinely analyze sales sheets to adjust production quantities, turn surplus baked goods into new products or donate them to Tri-Valley Haven’s food pantry. Building community around sustainability with fellow businesses, the Wingens hosted a Sustainability Mixer with LSI and City representatives to connect, learn and share ideas.

 

Previous Award Winners

2024

2023

2022

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

  • Corning Life Sciences
  • Felson Companies, Inc. 
  • Foods Co
  • Lola's Chicken Shack  
  • Mobile Mini
  • Oracle Americas, Inc.
  • Richard Avelar & Associates Architects
  • SMART Modular Technologies 

2014

  • America’s Best Coffee Roasting Company
  • Carriage House Apartments
  • The Home Depot
  • Kaiser Permanente Livermore Medical Offices 
  • Recology Grover Environmental Products(RGEP)
  • Reliance Metalcenter
  • The Republic Services
  • The Sacred Wheel
  • South Shore Center 
  • TraX
  • WM EarthCare is Waste Management
  • Zero Net Energy Center (ZNEC)

2013

  • Balentine Plaza Shopping Center
  • Cagwin & Dorward
  • CBRE, Inc.
  • FreshPoint San Francisco
  • McDonald's - Pacific Sierra Region
  • Pete's ACE Hardware
  • Tesla Motors, Inc.
  • The John Stewart Company
  • Truitt & White
  • UC Berkeley, Cal Dining
  • VF Outdoor, Inc.
  • Western Garden Nursery

2011

  • Amtrak Operations & Maintenance Facility
  • Chabot Space & Science Center
  • Dublin Corporate Center managed by Tishman Speyer
  • Finelite
  • GSC Logistics
  • Holy Spirit Church
  • Kaiser Foundation Health Plan
  • Kaiser Greater Southern Alameda Area (GSAA)
  • SYNNEX Corporation
  • Unigen
  • US Foods

2010

  • A.G. Ferrari
  • Berkeley Repertory Theater
  • Coca Cola Bottling Company, San Leandro
  • Dobake Bakeries, Inc.
  • Emeryville Public Market, by TMG Partners
  • Novartis
  • Peerless Coffee & Tea Company
  • Telecare Villa Fairmont Mental Health Rehabilitation Center
  • The Clorox Company
  • University of California Office of the President
  • Washington Hospital Healthcare System
  • Wente Family Estates

2009

  • Bayer Healthcare, LLC
  • Boston Scientific
  • Carl Zeiss Meditec
  • Costco Wholesale Livermore
  • Emerald Packaging Incorporated
  • Golden Gate Fields Racetrack
  • Heat and Control, Inc.
  • La Terra Fina
  • Peterson Tractor
  • Save Mart Supermarkets
  • The Shorenstein Building at 555 12th Street
  • The United States Postal Service's Processing and Distribution Center

2008

  • Alpha Innotech Corporation
  • Columbus Distributing Company
  • Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream
  • Fremont Marriott Silicon Valley
  • Ghirardelli Chocolate
  • Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay
  • Kerry Sweet Ingredients
  • Lake Merritt Plaza
  • North Face
  • Peterson Power
  • Pleasanton Corporate Commons
  • Walters & Wolf
  • Watergate Towers
  • Whole Foods Markets

2007

  • Amtrak
  • Clif Bar & Company
  • Eastmont Town Center
  • Finelite
  • Mills College
  • Quaker-Tropicana-Gatorade (QTG)
  • Service West
  • U.S. Foodservice San Francisco Division

2006

  • American Licorice
  • Bay Street Emeryville
  • Emeryville Public Market
  • IKEA Emeryville
  • Metro
  • Scios
  • Sconza Candy
  • Trans Pacific Centre

2005

  • Degussa Construction Chemicals
  • Golden Gate Fields
  • Pacific Gas & Electric
  • Pacific Steel Casting Company
  • Rogers Family Company
  • Sara Lee Coffee and Tea
  • The Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County
  • U.S. Pipe
  • Washington Hospital
  • Westgate Shopping Center/SKB Properties

2004

  • Children's Hospital Oakland
  • Clif Bar, Inc
  • Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
  • Oakland Arena & Network Associates Coliseum
  • Orcon Corporation
  • Toyota Logistics Services

2003

  • Cal State University at Hayward
  • CertainTeed
  • East Bay Regional Park District
  • IKEA, Emeryville
  • LAM Research
  • Oakland Hilton Hotel
  • Powerlight Corporation

2002

  • AC Transit
  • American Licorice Company
  • Oakland International Aiport
  • Yoshi's

2001

  • ANG Newspapers
  • Cal State University at Hayward
  • Compaq
  • East Bay Regional Park District
  • Peerless Coffee Company
  • Peet's Coffee & Tea
  • The Oakland Zoo

2000

  • Bay Area Rapid Transit District
  • Bayer Corporation
  • Fleischmann's Yeast
  • New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.
  • United States Postal Service, Oakland District
  • University of California, Berkeley
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