Resource Library
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.
Success StoriesAmerica’s Best Coffee Roasting Company in Oakland specializes in artisan roasted coffees and specialty teas and distribute primarily throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The company had already replaced cardboard boxes with reusable plastic crates when a mini-grant from StopWaste allowed them to purchase additional crates to expand their use of reusable transport packaging.
Use this sheet mulch source list to locate bulk recycled compost, mulch, and sheet mulch materials from vendors in the east bay. Sheet mulching is a way to remove a lawn by layering cardboard and mulch right on top of the grass.
BrochuresLearn more about building healthy soil with this guide that provides tips to help you get started in your garden. It covers soil building strategies including composting, sheet mulching and cover cropping.
This one page brochure covers the basic steps for sheet mulching your lawn. It's an easy process of layering cardboard and mulch right on top of the grass. Plus, you can plant your new garden right into the mulch.