when financial researchers peter golmicher buys his lunch here, he uses a $2 reusable bowl. >> it's great, i use it once. i clean it, i bring it back. almost no incremental effort and it's good for the environment. >> we gave our customer 25-cent discount when they use their reusable bowl. >> i save a quarter every time i've used this. i'm sure it's paid for itself multiple times. >> reporter: steve cyrus says he uses the bowls at all of his stores. all of the other containers are combustible. >> reporter: hundreds of thousands of tons of take out food containers end up in landfills. >> it's 5,000 restaurants in san francisco. half of them do take out service. >> reporter: san francisco recycler and trash hauler recology says byoc is real and growing. >> it's the next step in being green. >> reporter: some folks bring in glass containers, others metal boxes. others japanese bento boxings. they provide glass container jars. >> you will get a discount in the future and the jars cost about a dollar a jar. i think it really reduces the amount of containers. this neighborhood is good. people b