Resource Library
Success StoriesThe Zero Net Energy Center (ZNEC) in San Leandro is a partnership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 595 and the Northern California National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA). Completed in 2013 as a retrofit of an outdated commercial building, the 46,000-square-foot facility is the largest building in California that generates enough renewable energy on-site to meet its own electricity demand.
Success StoriesWM EarthCare is Waste Management’s line of compost and mulch, produced at the company-owned composting facility at the Redwood Landfill in Novato. The locally sourced feedstock includes food scraps and yard trimmings from Alameda County residents in Albany, Castro Valley Sanitary District, Emeryville, Hayward, Oakland and Oro Loma Sanitary District—about 80,000 pounds each day.
Success StoriesTraX, founded in Berkeley, is a new social impact media platform that encourages positive “reuse actions,” such as bringing a reusable cup, bag or straw to stores when shopping. Shoppers take action by photographing their reuse items via Instagram or Facebook mobile apps, add the store location and the #traXactions hashtag and share the action online for cash rewards.
Success StoriesSouth Shore Center is a 594,000 square-foot open-air shopping mall located in Alameda, California. Commercial tenants share several waste stations located throughout the mall. Starting in 2011, South Shore Center has worked with its tenants, garbage hauler and StopWaste to increase recycling and introduce the collection of food scraps and other compostable materials, especially at the mall’s many food service businesses.
Success StoriesFounded in 2011, The Sacred Wheel in Oakland sells cheeses and specialty foods, as well as sandwiches and soups, primarily from local, small business production. As the restaurant part of the business grew, so did the amount of trash from disposable service ware. Distressed to see so much material go to waste, the owners decided to switch to reusable dishes and utensils for food eaten at the café, and offer some items, such as straws, only on request.
Success StoriesThe Republic Services Newby Island Compost Facility is part of the Newby Island Resource Recovery Park, owned by Republic Services and located Milpitas, just north of San Jose. The facility produces Super Humus compost and Pro Chip mulch from food scraps and yard trimmings collected locally, including from the City of Alameda, Fremont, Newark, Piedmont and San Leandro in Alameda County.
Success StoriesReliance Metalcenter in Union City is a division of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., one of the country’s largest metals service center companies. Reliance Metalcenter has 70 employees and processes plate, sheet metal, rod and bar. Staff used to discard cardboard packaging from metal deliveries, because some of it was contaminated with protective lubricants.
Success StoriesKaiser Permanente Livermore Medical Offices are part of Diablo Service Area, employ a staff of 150 and serve 50,000 patients. The facility has been separating landscape plant debris for composting since 2010. In March 2013, they expanded the collection of compostables to include paper towel waste, and started recycling of non-confidential paper, cardboard and recyclable containers.
Success StoriesThe Home Depot operates 1,976 stores in the United States, nine of which are in Alameda County. In 2007, the company introduced Eco Options, a program that promotes third party certified, environmentally preferable products that include many recycled-content building materials such as insulation, carpets, tile, particleboard and flooring.
Success StoriesCarriage House Apartments in Fremont is a gated community with 123 rental units. Starting in February 2012, in an effort to reduce garbage collection fees and be more eco-friendly, management replaced on-site recycling carts with larger bins to increase capacity, and launched an outreach campaign to residents.