Blindly Recycling

   Since I've been interning at ECOvention, LLC, my eyes are opening to a lot more when it comes to sustainability and recycling. For example, I never really took notice to the fact that my mother would save the soda cans we use, instead of just throwing them away in the trash. Throwing them away was what I would always do...  My mother would constantly tell me to put the cans and, for that matter, the plastic and glass bottles, in a special recycling bag.

   Now, without my mother even having to remind me, I unconsciously just do it. I asked my mother the other day when it is that she actually brings the bottles and cans we collect to the recycling machine.  I know that you can redeem money from the cans and bottles that are inserted. I learned that she saves them for others that are already collecting them. Usually around the neighborhood where I live, the people who collect them push carts with bags full of cans and bottles that they are going to recycle. For some, it is something they do on the side as a hobby; for others, it is their nine to five. 

   Not to long ago I read an article about can and bottle collecting. At the end of the article there was a chart that told you how many cans one would have to collect for a certain item or opportunity, as well as the amount of money one could make and the time it would take to do so.  I thought it was interesting to learn that it would take 880,000 cans to pay for one year at Brooklyn Law School. The amount made from the cans and bottles on average would be $44,000 and it would take three hundred and thirty nine days to do so.

   After reading this article, I felt that my mother was doing more than recycling but helping others as well. Sustainability and recycling to me now is more than just helping the planet. It begins with helping others who are willing to help the planet as well. I sort of see it as a cycle. By helping society, we can, in a way, help the planet. I am glad that my mother has gotten me into the habit of recycling. After saving the cans and bottles in that special recycling bag we have at home, I feel good, especially knowing that I am contributing to something that is great.

-Excited Intern K.

Out With the Old, In With the New

   Last week was my first week interning for ECOvention, LLC, and I must say that I am quite impressed at the level of interest people have when it comes to the GreenBox.  One of my first tasks that week was to send out emails to potential GreenBox users. The email was pretty straight foward, discussing the GreenBox and basically getting people interested in it being something that they can use for their business.

   While I was sending out more emails, Ned told me that he got an email back from someone who I'd sent an email out too. Although getting a reply from an email is normal, it made me do a little dance in my head because it was my first experience of people showing interest in their business using the GreenBox. I am not quite sure, but I think the person replyed by asking for a sample. It's good to know that the GreenBox is becoming of interest to many. The more people begin to learn more about and use the GreenBox, sooner or later the "normal box" may be obselete. It's on a mission and I wonder what's next?

-Excited Intern K.

The GreenBox and I

   As the new intern for ECOvention, LLC, I was (and still am) very excited about the idea of the new and improved pizza box, the GreenBox! When Jen and Ned explained to me about the idea and concept, I began to wonder why a few of my favorite pizza chains haven't started using it as of yet, it is PURE GENIUS. With the U.S. and other countries beginning to get environmentally friendly, I found this invention to be revolutionary in a sense that not only will the pizza box take on a new look and use but other food containers will too.

   I've had pizza from two different pizza chains in the last two weeks and it's sad to say that I had to use plates (more dishes to wash and the use of water that can be conserved) and aluminum foil to store the left overs (the routine everytime I order pizza). The GreenBox makes the "normal box" seem so... I don't know, a bit useless if you ask me. The GreenBox has purpose, it has life, it has storage, it has perforated plates, it has... everything!? And the GreenBox is much more conventional, more cool... looks better too.  I wouldn't be surprised if the models used it as an accessory at New York Fashion week. 

   Excited I am; I really do look forward to my days here. I would love to experience how far the GreenBox can go and I'm pretty sure it can go very far. I mean it's for the environment, and it can help one out in their normal life, what more can one ask for? For me it would be all the pizzas you can eat, of course with high demands that it comes in a GreenBox and only a GreenBox. Maybe seems like a bit much but the more I can benefit the environment (and myself with the extra cheese and pepperoni) the more I'll be one happy camper. 

-Excited Intern K.