When these people talk about cost they are talking about headcount.
I remember working at a place that made employees buy their own pens, maybe as symbol of frugality. Nobody really got it - we just thought it was eccentric.
Some workspace amenities are basically just props - they don't cost anything once installed. People try it out a few times and go back to work. Day to day, it's about as significant as the junk on the walls at a theme restaurant, but it makes the space look "creative", and apparently that's more important than looking "frugal". Arcade games get used that way too - sure, you can play it, but who has time?
Meanwhile, important, recurring costs like improving data center efficiency do get a lot more attention.
If you want to cut datacenter costs, reward engineers for impact, and include cost savings under your definition of impact. Engineers are pretty rational people and will respond to incentives.
The door desks are more of a tradition. You can request more expensive automatic standing desks easily. The soda/food is not subsidized day-to-day, but we do get coffee and tea (and if you stay late due to work you can get reimbursed for dinner depending on your team). The hardware is perfectly fine as well. I have 2x 1440p monitors and an i7 13" Retina MacBook Pro as well as a cloud desktop (courtesy of AWS) with scaling hardware as I need it for development.
Ever heard of Gmail, Chrome, YouTube or Android?
Also, some Googlers are insanely good at finding out when they're about to get rid old swag.. I'm not one of them, unfortunately.
I do admit, the quantity of Mac power adapters laying around the office is a bit silly.
I actually think there's a LOT of fat that could be cut at Google without affecting innovation. One person I know - I've literally never seen him wearing a shirt that he didn't get for free at Google. I've seen people get new Mac power adapters because the tech stop was closer than their desk.
These things are pretty small compared to salaries - and they do serve a purpose - having to buy your own t-shirts and pay for your own gym membership is a pretty good reason never to quit, but I wonder how much they foster a culture of just throwing money at problems instead of innovating? I wonder how much they make Googlers soft and entitled.