YoungIntern Takes Faux-Environmentalists To Task!

YoungIntern (aka Emani) made an interesting discovery the other day: there is a word for those folks who tacitly support the idea of eco-friendly initiatives, but who don't actually bother to incorporate them in to their lives. Not that we here at ECOvention are judging anyone - it's just good to keep up on your vocabulary. Take it away, YoungIntern!

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This week is my last week with ECOvention -- a moment of silence please... Thank you!

For the past few days I've been researching the top 100 Pizza Chains - our future customers, in other words.

Today was slow and tiring, so I finished that up and took a quick break to snack and get my energy up. I was looking stuff up on the Urban Dictionary, to catch up on slang that I'm too embarrassed to ask friends about (I'm 15, I should know these things). I came across the word CONGREENIENT, which is the practice of recycling, or being green, only when convenient. A congreenient person is one who only recycles when it is convenient to do so.

Now, how many people do you know that are congreenient? Are you congreenient? I believe most people in the world are congreenient: they care about the environment... just not enough to constantly go out of their way to recycle or be eco-friendly.

People who act this way aren't horrible; they do make some effort to do right by the earth every now and again. It would just be nice to have everyone do what right for this beautiful planet, but unlike Julia Roberts we all can't slap $20 million into solar powered homes... so ECOvention will stay eco-friendly with our very affordable and effective GreenBox. It's an easy way for businesses and consumers to avoid being called CONGREENIENT!!!

A Fleeting Glimpse of 2010's Most-Covered Invention...The GreenBox (duh)!

After watching "Let’s Do Lunch" on NBC-Philadelphia, you may find your mouth watering and your stomach growling - especially when the segment features the wood-fired pizza-making genius of Jason Brown, owner and operator of the coolest pizza-dispensing vehicle in the world.

But let’s not forget that we’re tuning in for the GreenBox as well. Yes, we were in the video, in a "blink-and-you-missed-it" sorta way. Give it another watch, and around 45 seconds in, you'll see some GreenBoxes laid out as part of a glorious display of Jason's pizza. Jason has been a loyal customer and an outspoken advocate of the GreenBox, and for that we salute him - not to mention that his pizzas are both wildly creative and absolutely delicious.

The GreenBox and Beatrice’s inferno have to be the most convenient pair ever. A wood-fired pizza oven in a trailer and a box that can be used as plates! It doesn’t get any better than that. Check out the video below!!!

Media: Old & New...Interns: Old & Young

Coverage of the GreenBox in the media just keeps on coming. Here's YoungIntern with an update on what she's been up to the past few days at ECOvention:

Lately, I’ve been updating the media list for the GreenBox. It’s pretty simple and quick once you get into it. This morning I was just looking for anything that we may have missed; new articles or recently added blog posts about the GreenBox, etc. I came across a sites chattering about the recent goings-on between Whole Foods and the GreenBox. Two links are here: http://bit.ly/doYedU and http://bit.ly/cIxdt5 Check out the news… The GreenBox is really taking off!

YoungIntern also had the opportunity to accompany CEO and GreenBox inventor William Walsh to the FoxBusiness.Com studios this morning for a segment about the GreenBox which aired at 12:30 PM eastern time. I was watching live here at the GreenBox offices while eating brownies and drinking a tall glass of milk...feet up on the desk...it's great when you know for a fact that the CEO isn't around, because you're watching him on the internet. Click here to check out the segment, won't you?

Today at 12:30 EST - The GreenBox Live on Fox!!!

Once again, the media has come a-knockin' on the GreenBox door...ECOvention CEO and inventor of the GreenBox William Walsh will appear live today at 12:30 pm Eastern Standard Time in a segment for FoxBusiness.com LIVE, which is not part of Fox Business' "Strategy Room".
Set your Tivo's and tune it at 12"30 for a live demonstration of the GreenBox. Fox likes to call it "the pizza box for the 21st Century". We can get behind that.

The Final Video

XO,

OldIntern

The GreenBox on The Boob Tube - AGAIN!

When it comes to generating exposure, the GreenBox is an absolute monster. We shan't make any bones about it: this product is a true publicity juggernaut. Just witness the way the GreenBox keeps popping up on TV, on the radio, in newspapers, and all over the internet. Some people can't even BUY this kind of exposure. Poor slobs.

The latest case of "all our press is good press" comes to us courtesy of WPIX News right here in NYC. Watch the clip below and you'll see Chef Edward Sylvia of Pizza by Cer te demonstrating the best way to make his "Midwestern Breakfast Pizza". He also stops along the way to introduce the novel functionality of the GreenBox to the WPIX audiences. Our logo gets some good face time and proves as always that the GreenBox is indeed ready for its close up.

Pizza by Cer te is located at 132 East 56th Street between Park and Lexington. But before you go grub on some great organic pizza, watch the video below. And when you do stop by, be sure to thank Chef Sylvia for doing the right thing - putting his pizzas in a box worthy of them and worthy of his customers - the GreenBox!!!

 

YoungIntern's Getting the GreenBox Out There...

Leave it to "YoungIntern" to bring the GreenBox up to speed vis a vis "these kids and their Internet". GreenBox NY now has an official MySpace page loaded with pics, articles, and videos - all laid out clearly and tastefully by Y.I.

She is now working on our soon-to-be-unveiled "official" Facebook page. And once she's got it up and running, we expect you all to flock over in droves. For now, check out the awesome content on the MySpace page to tide you over. And of course, we're still tweeting away on Twitter. Follow us everywhere - do don't think it's creepy!

XO,

OldIntern (O.I.)

YoungIntern Develops A Rare Disorder: "Recycling OCD"

Note from OldIntern: Our new intern Emani, aka YoungIntern, sent me the following blog entry to review and post. As usual, the blog is well-written, entertaining, and insightful. But frankly, I'm a little worried about her. This whole paper-sorting thing is a wonderful idea and a boon to our environment, but I just hope we haven't created a monster. Emani, you're only 15 - you should be lighting paper on fire, not sorting it in to ecologically responsible piles! Just kidding - you're an inspiration to us all.

Read Emani's blog entry below. Thanks, YoungIntern!

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At the end of the school year, students are allowed to determine what they want to do with their items. I’ve always brought massive amounts of unnecessary books and paper home. This year I really didn't want much of the hassle, so I just kept what I might need for next year.

While cleaning my room this weekend, I started going through the stuff I brought home. Now prior to my internship with GreenBox I would’ve thrown the loads of papers I didn’t need in a regular garbage bag and called it a day. But now I have this restored urge to help the environment, so I sat down and went trough every single sheet of paper and made four stacks: unwanted lined paper with one side or more blank, unwanted paper with one side blank, paper I may need to look over with one or more sides used, and unwanted paper with both sides used. All the paper I don’t want or need that has one or both sides blank will be stored in a manila folder as “waste paper” or scrap paper I can use for drafts or random ideas, the paper I don’t want with both sides used will be recycled, and the paper I do want or need will go in another folder for important resources.

This is the first time I’ve really gotten into detail about recycling, besides separating plastic, paper, metal and glass. I feel somewhat accomplished, but I’m not fully done with the task. I really just wanted to be done with my room so I set the paper aside so I can continue later.

In the GreenBox offices, I’m currently working on the GreenBox MySpace page. It’s coming along slowly but surely. I’m having trouble creating scroll boxes around our YouTube videos, mostly because I’m distracted by the scent of vinegar and cod liver oil wafting over from the desk of Sales Director Ned Kensing. His brother Sean has assured me that this is perfectly normal behavior. For Ned, that is.

By the end of this week, most likely Wednesday or Thursday the Official GreenBox Business page should be up and running.

Keep up with our progress on our Twitter page (@GreenBoxNY)!

That was delicious. Now what am I supposed to do with this thing?

In general, I don’t take my work home with me. (On my best days, I don’t even take my work to work with me).

But last night I had an experience that drove home the undeniable appeal, nay, the absolute NECESSITY of the GreenBox as part of a less stressful, more responsible lifestyle. The following story is true (as the grainy, cinema-verite cell phone pictures will no doubt prove).

I arrived home around 9 pm and decided to get a pizza for dinner. I haven’t been eating much pizza in recent months, due to a mean case of body dysmorphia that has me convinced I’m getting chubby (six foot three, 135 lbs.). But I had a serious craving for some Brooklyn slices, and I figured it was about time I took a cold hard look at “the competition”, box-wise.

I strolled down to my neighborhood joint to place my order. I’d tell you the name of the restaurant but frankly, I don’t trust some of you people and I’d rather you didn’t know where I live. Let’s just say it’s that pizza place in Brooklyn, the one with the guy, next door to the thing.

I returned home with a small cheese pizza (6 slices), and proceeded to tear through four of them while watching Maury Povich clips on YouTube. Once I was full of pizza (and nostalgia for the days of quality television), I turned to the problem of storing the leftover slices and disposing of the box taking up precious counter space in my kitchen.

I had two slices left over. The first step was locating my supply of aluminum foil. Once I found it (behind the George Foreman grill which has not been used or even acknowledged since 2006), I clumsily wrapped the two slices in this wasteful, improvised packaging and turned to the box.

In the silence of my apartment, the box seemed to whisper, “Psst - Sean. Hey, Sean. What’re you gonna do about me? I’m a real pain in the ass”.

And indeed it was. I considered breaking the box down so it would fit in the recycling bin out in the hall. But with arms like mine, breaking down a non-perforated box is a bit of a tall order. My biceps can make short work of paper towels, tissue, or rice paper, but corrugated cardboard has a bit more backbone. I decided that tearing the box apart (without helpful perforations to reduce the strain on my forearms) would be too taxing for me. Moreover, I needed to conserve my strength because CEO William Walsh told me that the following morning would be the first edition of the Intern Pull-Up Challenge (winner gets to clean his bathroom). What to do, then?

There seemed to be no other choice than to simply take the box out in to the hall and leave it in the garbage area, still in one (annoyingly large) piece. This was essentially the opposite of the “pay it forward” mentality; I was really just passing along the headache to someone else (namely, my super).

As the pictures above will attest, my options for disposal were limited. At first, I just placed the box on top of the recycling bin, as if to say, “Hey, I really wanted to put this thing in here, but it’s too big and clumsy.” Then I decided to just toss the box on the floor near the bin, as if to say, “I decided to just toss the box on the floor, near the bin.”

All in all, I learned a lot from the experience, specifically that it’s time for the GreenBox to become the industry standard and bring real convenience back to pizza-eating. What’s the point of taking your pizza home if it has to travel in something that won’t fit in the recycling bin or in your fridge? It’s time for a change.

Too bad Will won’t give me any free samples.

XO,

OldIntern

On The Air with the GreenBox!

Beatrice's Inferno is a truly cutting-edge business - a completely mobile, wood-fired pizza experience. Let me repeat that: Beatrice's Inferno is a wood-fired oven ON WHEELS driving around Philadelphia and cranking out some of the most delicious and adventurous pizzas in the United States. Described as a "portable pizza paradise", Beatrice's Inferno is making waves in Philadelphia with their novel combination of convenience and gourmet-quality pizza.

And speaking of convenience and quality, Beatrice's Inferno uses a very special product to deliver their pizzas to the clamoring crowds - the GreenBox. Recently, owner Jason Brown was on the air with Preston & Steve on WMMR Philadelphia. They started out talking about Jason's deliciously outre pizza offerings, but quickly realized there was something else worthy of conversation - The GreenBox.

Listen to the audio clip on YouTube. And be sure to visit Beatrice's Inferno here. Thanks, Jason!

YoungIntern takes us to school...

Here's the latest from Emani, aka YoungIntern, followed by a responsorial post from OldIntern. Read on...

Hello... Emani (a.k.a. YoungIntern) here.

I came in early this morning and got right to work! After chatting with Ned about my tasks for the day, I decided to research some things I wanted to learn more about…and no, Sean, Kurt Cobain is not one of them – I know who he is, thanks very much!

So, anyway, I looked up what corrugated cardboard is and how it's recycled. All it is is three layers of fiberboard, where the two outside layers are flat and the middle one is in a wavy pattern. To recycle, it's “pulped” by being mixed with water. It is then weakened and combined with different pulps (some from wood shavings) to achieve the final desirable strength. This same pulp can be combined with "paper pulps" to make things like paper towels and toilet paper.

Later, my fellow intern (Ed. Note – “OldIntern”) told me about the online presence of the GreenBox. (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.). I was impressed - it looked way better than he made it out to be. Why so modest, OldIntern? Go check out the GreenBox online, folks - it's all over the place!

OldIntern Replies:

Thanks for the info on corrugated cardboard, Emani! I’ve been here for months and I thought we made the boxes out of reclaimed pencil shavings. I’m a slow learner…

You mentioned that you “chatted” with Ned this morning. Allow me to make some corrections to the misinformation he has no doubt tried to dupe you with:

- Ned is not a international kickboxing star who maintains residences in both Thailand and The Hamptons, NY.
- Ned is not licensed for Formula One racing. In fact, the validity of his NY State driver’s licesnse has been called in to question on many occasions.
- Ned has never met the Dalai Lama, and definitely hasn’t beaten him at checkers.
- Ned was not instrumental in passing the historic health care reform bill earlier this year.

Ned is, however, our Director of Sales, and despite his fondness for vitamin supplements and drinking Apple Cider Vinegar straight out of the bottle, he is a valuable member of the ECOvention team.

We're working on creating a brand-new "official" Facebook page for the GreenBox. We just have to wait until Ned is done buying sneakers online.

Thanks for the blog, Emani! You’re making me look bad.

XO,

OldIntern

There's A New Intern In Town...

Just in case I didn't feel old and irrelevant enough, ECOvention has brought a new intern in to the NYC offices. Her name is Emani and she's entering her junior year in high school this coming fall at the ripe old age of 15. She's smart, energetic, and ready to make her presence felt on this here blog. Tomorrow, I'm going to see if she knows who Kurt Cobain was. If it turns out she doesn't, I will lock myself in a bathroom stall and wonder where all the years have gone.

Her first blog entry is below, and we look forward to many more from her...in the meantime, I'm struggling to find some job security around here. Now that they've got another intern (who happens to be half my age), I can feel the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head...But then I think to myself, "Hey, somebody's got to pick up William Walsh's dry cleaning." So I should be all right.

Check out Emani's first entry below, and stay tuned to this blog for some major developments in the works...

XO,

The GreenBox Intern

Being Eco-freindly

I'm sure you've heard the terms a lot - "eco-friendly", "environmentally conscious", etc...but what do they mean, exactly? As I understand it, an "eco-friendly" lifestyle revolves around practices that reduce harm to the environment. Sounds simple, but how easy is it to practice in your daily life?

At the ECOvention office, I started skimming through Go Green, Live Rich by David Bach. I was struck by Bach's statement that “the truth is, many of our daily actions and behaviors add green house gases to the atmosphere, and it’s not entirely our fault.” It was an encouraging statement because I personally don’t like causing damage to the environment, but the more I inform myself the more I can reduce my impact on the world around me.

One may wonder, "Well, what can I do to limit or decrease the negative affect I’m having on the planet Earth?". Unfortunately, I can’t answer that question for you - I’m still learning myself. And that's part of what my internship here at ECOvention is all about.

I do little things that I think help the environment, but I know there’s more to be done. For one, in my household, we recycle. It's been a part of my weekly routine since the spring of 2005, partly because it’s a tenant requirement, but also because I enjoy it and it makes me feel like I'm doing a good thing for the planet. Another thing I do is fully wash the dishes before rinsing them off, instead of running the water the whole time. I'm not sure how much this helps, but in my mind I’m saving water. See? Not much, but I try.

The environment has never been a big concern in my surroundings, though in school I was given little tips. Turn off the water when you brush your teeth, turn off the lights when you leave a room, and refrain from littering. I’ve tried to keep these ideas in mind, but sometimes I can’t help but feel like I’m going out of my way to help the cause.

Something most people take part in is eating pizza. I don’t think I personally know anyone who doesn’t enjoy pizza! (I know lactose intolerant people who devour it!) But what happens when you’re done with the box? (You may already know about the Green Box, if so I’ll just refresh your memory.) Pizza boxes don’t fit in most household garbage cans and storing leftovers adds more hassle to the process. The Green Box can help solve this problem. Though our pizza box is shaped like a traditional pizza box, the top comes off and breaks into four plates. When you’re done eating you can store your leftovers in the bottom piece of the box, which folds into a convenient container that can easily fit in your fridge or garbage at a later date.

Now, how does this help the environment? The plates decrease the chances of there being dishes to wash, the bottom provides storage without wasteful wrapping, and the box is also made from 100% recycled materials. And if you’re even more interested in saving waste, you can use the box as compost!

The Green Box is ideal because households across the country eat pizza. So why not enjoy the meal and package your food and garbage more conveniently while still helping the environment? Imagine if individuals could automatically help save the environment? Well it is possible with the Green Box.

Like I said, I’m still learning how to be more eco-friendly while convincing others to do the same. ECOvention is trying to make that happen! I hope I can help!

- The GreenBox Intern 2.0