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.

Before & After

Lineup of disposable cups of various sizes, plastic and wax paper with straws.

Reusable cups in front of concertgoers with printed text "Please return our cup to an r.cup bin"

Reusable cup sign at music venue and group of attendees posing with their cups

ReThinkDisposableCaseStudy_San Francisco Music Venues.pdf (7.84 MB)

Business Information:

982 Market St
San Francisco, CA 94102
United States

Website

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.

-
Brian Downey, Director of Operations at The Warfield

ReThink Disposable - Stop waste before it starts

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.

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