Resource Library
| 07/31/2025To date, BayREN has avoided over 166 million tons of carbon emissions, paid out $88 million in incentives, and upgraded more than 76,000 homes and businesses across the nine Bay Area counties. Promoting BayREN’s 10 programs throughout Alameda County is a key role our Agency plays that supports our goal of advancing energy and resource efficiency in the built environment to prevent waste, fight climate change, and improve the health of our communities.
Hang Ten Boiler, known for their fresh seafood dishes and boil-in-a-bag options with crab, crawfish, and shrimp, cut down on 12 types of disposable foodware by an average of 73%. They’ve eliminated over 318,000 single-use items and 7,500 pounds of waste annually, saving nearly $4,000 each year.
Tasty Subs & Pizza, known for its Indian-fusion pies and vegetarian eats, swapped disposable plates, cups, and cutlery for reusables. The switch keeps over 118,000 pieces of single-use waste out of landfills each year, and saves the restaurant more than $18,000 annually after a quick 6-month payback.
La Torta Loca serves up tortas, sopas, burritos, and tacos to a mostly takeout crowd. By making dine-in service reusable, they’ve cut down on waste, improved the customer experience, and are saving money, showing that even in primarily to-go businesses, reuse can make a real difference.
Powderface, a Fruitvale Village favorite known for its beignets and Southern-style fare, has gone 100% reusable for dine-in. This shift will keep over 77,000 disposable items out of the waste stream each year, and save the café $3,000 annually.
Parra’s is a traditional Mexican restaurant and their specialty is their delicious tlayudas oaxaqueñas. They were already using reusable foodware for their dine-in guests but were still relying on plastic straws and sauce cups. Replacing them with alternatives made from stainless steel Parra’s will prevent over 41,000 pieces of harmful disposable plastics annually.
Hogar Latino Panaderia Y Restaurant serves Honduran and Salvadoran food and, arguably, some of the best tamales, juices and frozen treats in Oakland. They switched from disposable plastic and paper cups and plastic utensils for dine-in to reusable tumblers, mugs and real silverware, saving over $3000 annually.
Emil’s Burger & Breakfast prides itself on the freshest ingredients, hand-selected by the owner daily and cooked fresh to order. They had been serving their customers on disposable paper and plastics. Now, customers are noshing on their delicious burgers with reusable foodware and enjoying an elevated dining experience, and Emil's cut their packaging costs by $2,400 a year.
Schools - ReflectionAlvin Z.’s 4Rs – Recycle, Reuse, Rebuild, and Rethink – are represented in their visual art submitted for the 2025 We Are the (Re)Generation Art & Storytelling Contest. Download Alvin Z.’s (Re)Generation story about their piece and how it represents their 4Rs.