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The Fillmore
The Fillmore is a 1,199-person capacity music venue located in the Western Addition of San Francisco, California and, fittingly, where Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable avant-garde multimedia show took place.
The Fillmore transitioned from using compostable plastic cups to using TURN reusable cups in various sizes (5, 9, 12, 16, and 24-ounce sizes).
Business Profile:
Due to the higher cost of TURN cups compared to compostable plastic cups, the venue will incur an additional expense of $700 per year. However, The Fillmore may offset this cost by reducing their composting service by half after the introduction of TURN reusable cups.
Recology estimates that these changes in volume will result in an 8% reduction in service fees, which comes out to annual savings of $2,100. Taking into account both the slight increase in cost for TURN cups and the anticipated refuse savings, The Fillmore is projected to achieve a net annual savings of $1,400.
Read more in San Francisco Music Venues Raise the Bar for Sustainability: Case study on a reusable cup pilot at three San Francisco venues.
Business Information:
1805 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94115
United States
The Bottom Line
176,000
Single-Use Cups Eliminated Annually
4,500
Pounds Of Refuse Diverted Annually
$1,400
Annual Cost Savings
Reducing Single-Use Food Packaging
ReThink Disposable works with local governments, businesses and institutions, and consumers of single use food packaging to inspire a cultural shift away from single-use "throwaway" lifestyle.
The Warfield
The Warfield, originally built in the 1920s, was a vaudeville and movie palace and became a 2,250-person capacity concert hall in 1979 when Bill Graham Presents booked a run of shows with Bob Dylan. The Warfield made the switch from single-use plastic and paper cups to exclusively using reusable r.Cups, available in various sizes (5, 9, 12, 16, and 24-ounce sizes).
Business Profile:
During a 6-month service period with r.Cup, spanning from May to October, The Warfield incurred a cost of $25,800 for r.Cup services. To offset this cost, The Warfield implemented a 3 percent sustainability fee for each drink sold in an r.Cup, resulting in revenue of more than $30,000 since the launch of r.Cup in May 2023. This revenue has the potential to turn r.Cup into a profit center for any venue.
Taking into account r.Cup services, income from the sustainability fee, and elimination of purchasing single-use disposable cups, The Warfield anticipates annual net-earnings of more than $33,000 that will go towards sustaining the reusable cup service into the future.
Read more about The Warfield in San Francisco Music Venues Raise the Bar for Sustainability: Case study on a reusable cup pilot at three San Francisco venues.
Before & After
Document
Business Information:
982 Market St
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States
The Bottom Line
204,800
Single-Use Cups Eliminated Annually
93%
Return Rate
12,700
Pounds Of Refuse Diverted Annually
Things have gone wonderfully and we can’t be happier to be part of the initiative.
Reducing Single-Use Food Packaging
ReThink Disposable works with local governments, businesses and institutions, and consumers of single use food packaging to inspire a cultural shift away from single-use "throwaway" lifestyle.
House Of Dim Sum
ReThink Disposable has long partnered with the City of San Francisco to help restaurants replace single-use foodware with cost-saving and planet-friendly reusable foodware. A recent champion is the House of Dim Sum in San Francisco’s Chinatown, which spent thousands of dollars weekly on disposable foodware.
After receiving technical assistance and fiscal support, the restaurant has eliminated 2.2 million disposable items every year. That’s more than seven tons of trash that won’t exist — the weight of a San Francisco cable car! An upfront investment of just $429 for durables will save $33,561 per year.
View the Case Study here (English) and here (Chinese).
Read more in The San Francisco Chronicle: Why San Francisco is spending $200,000 on dishware for restaurants
To learn more about our ReThink Disposable program, visit ReThinkDisposable.org.
Business Profile:
House of Dim Sum is located in San Francisco’s iconic Chinatown and specializes in, you guessed it, dim sum! Before working with SF Environment and ReThink Disposable, Ying Huang, the owner, spent thousands of dollars each week on disposable foodware to serve dine-in customers. After a visit from SF Environment’s outreach team, she learned that the ReThink Disposable program provides funds to switch from disposables to reusables for on-site dining. Huang joined the program — resulting in the elimination of unnecessary landfill waste and produced tremendous cost savings, which further supports House of Dim Sum as a cultural point of significance and source of nourishment for San Franciscans and Chinatown visitors.
Packaging practices prior to ReThink Disposable:
- Napkins automatically included with all orders
- Disposable hot cups
- Individually wrapped creamer
- Plastic forks and spoons
- 3 sizes of plastic clamshells,
paper boats, and deli containers
Recommendations Implemented:
- Napkins only upon request
- Stainless steel double-walled cups
- Carafe for bulk creamer
- Stainless steel utensils and teaspoons for stirrers
- Durable baskets and reusable plates
Before & After
Business Information:
735 Jackson St
San Francisco, CA 94133
United States
The Bottom Line
$429
upfront investment in reusable foodware
$33,561
annual savings after payback period
2,200,000
disposable items reduced per year
I encourage other businesses to work with ReThink Disposable and the City for the cost savings and to eliminate disposable items.
Reducing Single-Use Food Packaging
ReThink Disposable works with local governments, businesses and institutions, and consumers of single use food packaging to inspire a cultural shift away from single-use "throwaway" lifestyle.
Ballast Coffee
Café owner Paolo Araneta, every bit as bold as the Barako coffee he serves in San Francisco, deployed a new reusable jar system for Ballast’s daily grab-and-go treats and eliminated single-use disposable containers. Jar deposits are refunded upon return of the jar, or can be applied to the next purchase. After two months of implementation, staff reported a return rate of 75% and didn’t need to restock their jar supply.
Business Profile:
Nestled in San Francisco’s West Portal neighborhood, Ballast Coffee is known to be the only café serving Barako coffee in the city of San Francisco. Grown only in the Philippines and small parts of Malaysia and Vietnam, coffee beans are shipped green to the café and are roasted locally.
Packaging practices prior to ReThink Disposable:
- Three sizes of polylactic acid (PLA) plastic containers for grab-and-go snacks (24-ounce for salads, 16-ounce for overnight oats, and 9-ounce for chia pudding and yogurt cups)
- Single-use forks, spoons, and knives
Recommendations Implemented:
- Replaced three varieties of PLA containers with returnable wide-mouth glass canning jars with lids (32-ounce, 16-ounce, and 8-ounce)
- Replaced single-use utensils with stainless steel flatware
- Placed signage next to napkins encouraging customers to “take only what they need”
Before & After
Document
Business Information:
329 W Portal Ave
San Francisco, CA 94127
United States
The Bottom Line
$1,263
Annual cost savings
12,369 pieces
Of single-use packaging eliminated
245 pounds
Of waste prevented
Reusables [are] the only way small businesses like Ballast should move forward. We all need to do our part in contributing to a sustainable future. Small things add up fast. If we all do our part, what a difference we all can make.
Reducing Single-Use Food Packaging
ReThink Disposable works with local governments, businesses and institutions, and consumers of single use food packaging to inspire a cultural shift away from single-use "throwaway" lifestyle.
San Carlos Youth Center (Video)
With ReThink Disposable’s support, food created during the San Carlos Youth Center's cooking class program is no longer served on paper plates, bowls, and napkins. Now kids enjoy a non-disposable option with “camp-style” metal enamel foodware and stainless steel utensils. Imparting cooking skills to young people is a rich life lesson. Now, the youth center imparts an even bigger life lesson about the connection between healthy food, healthy bodies/minds, and a healthy planet.
Business Profile:
The San Carlos Youth Center is a free, supervised after-school program featuring a full-size gym, game room, homework assistance and staff-led activities. A popular daily cooking class is enjoyed by an upwards of 130 kids each day between the ages of 8 and 17 years.
San Carlos Youth Center has a big impact on how young people think about food service. Because the Youth Center is an after-school service provider, they are uniquely positioned to impact the future actions and attitudes of the young people they work with. By providing a safe and fun after-school space,
the youth center can influence the decision-making and purchasing decisions of impressionable young people.
After an initial investment of $984 in durable, non-plastic, PFAS-free foodware, San Carlos Youth Center prevents 18,898 pieces of single-use items each year, weighing 214 pounds, and saves $719 in annual net cost savings.
The reusable foodware expense and payback period are both above average when compared to other ReThink Disposable participants. However, because children are involved avoiding toxins that are found in most foodware (i.e. plastic, linings) is the top priority (and - goes without saying - worth the investment!).
Packaging practices prior to ReThink Disposable:
- All foods served on paper plates and bowls
- Single-use plastic forks, knives, and spoons
- Lined paper popcorn bags and napkins for snacks
Recommendations Implemented:
- Durable plates to replace single-use paper plates
- Stainless steel forks, knives, and spoons to replace plastic utensils
- Bus tubs and cart to transport foodware
- PlateScrape to replace pre-wash step of used dishes
Before & After
Document
CS_San_Carlos Youth Center_09.23.20a.pdf
(744.41 KB)
Business Information:
1001 Chestnut St
San Carlos, CA
United States
The Bottom Line
$719
annual net cost savings
18,898 pieces
of disposable items reduced
214 lbs
of waste prevented
Working with ReThink Disposable was such a great experience! With their help, our Youth Center staff were not only educated but provided the resources to eliminate single-use disposable foodware and significantly reduce our daily waste. Thanks to ReThink Disposable we will be getting our after school participants into the habit of doing all we can to reduce our impact on the planet.
Video URL
Reducing Single-Use Food Packaging
ReThink Disposable works with local governments, businesses and institutions, and consumers of single use food packaging to inspire a cultural shift away from single-use "throwaway" lifestyle.