GreenBox Guest Post: Scott Wiener, Pizza Leader

GreenBox lover, Guinness World Record holder, pizza fanatic….and friend. Scott Wiener is a darn cool guy to know.

Dubbed New York City’s “professional pizza expert," Scott’s passion for pie led him to start Scott’s Pizza Tours – and there’s nothing else quite like it. Over the last six years, Scott has conducted over 2,000 pizza adventures throughout the Big Apple, showcasing the city’s top pizza spots to over 33,000 tour guests to date. He's even made time to write a book (and an awesome one at that). 

But Scott’s “fervor for the flavor” doesn’t end there. He’s scoured the globe, visiting over 50 countries in search of the most unusual pizza boxes – a hobby that recently landed him a Guinness World Record for world’s largest pizza collection. From Australia to Thailand, Scott has over 750 boxes… and the GreenBox just happens to be one of them. :)

Six years ago, Scott stumbled upon the GreenBox at Arturo’s Osteria & Pizzeria, and it was a match made in pizza paradise. We couldn’t be prouder to have the GreenBox among such a unique collection, owned by the one guy who’s as obsessed with pizza as we are. 

Check out his blog post below, and keep on pizza-ing on.

"If you haven’t heard about the GreenBox, you need to check it out. It’s a pizza box that transforms into 4 plates and a slim container for your leftover slices. It was just featured on Shark Tank! I saw one in the wild today at Emily, a rad pizzeria in Clinton Hill (Brooklyn) during a fantastic service of the Margot’s Pizza pop-up by Adam Kuban.

The leftover slices ended up in my care, so it was the perfect excuse to use the GreenBox for its greatest power: the pizza carrying case. I ran into a bit of a snag when I realized I was traveling on bicycle, but that was easily solved with a few zip ties."

A Greenhouse Grows in Brooklyn

50% of produce grown is discarded before it’s ever eaten. That’s $165 billion dollars worth of wasted food each year.

Today, Brooklyn-born Gotham Greens has set out to change that, making a tangible difference in the most unconventional – yet extraordinarily innovative – of ways. Since 2010, Gotham has been transforming unused urban rooftop space into blooming communities of pesticide-free produce. And this is just the beginning.

By tapping into the city’s most underutilized resource, Gotham Greens is revolutionizing the way we think about urban farming. To date, three New York rooftops are home to the nation’s most technologically sophisticated rooftop greenhouses.

Their flagship greenhouse sits atop a Greenpoint, Brooklyn Whole Foods, boasting over 15,000 square feet, and growing over 100 tons of leafy greens annually. The produce is harvested before breakfast, and is downstairs ready for purchase by lunch. “Farm-fresh” has officially taken on a new meaning.

Passionate growers with fervor for sustainable agriculture, the greens team purveys the freshest produce in the most viable way. Climate-controlled greenhouses allow for harvesting 365 days a year. And the kicker? Their produce never travels more than 7 miles. 

GreenBox users Two Boots and Emily Pizza are taking advantage of this remarkable resource, adorning their pizzas with Gotham’s basil, arugula, and “rooftop reds” (their juicy medley of cherry, grape and cocktail tomatoes).

Gotham sums up their philosophy in the most perfect way: “We see green fields where others see rooftops. Most of all, we know that the crunch of fresh, local sustainably grown food, sets off a chain reaction of good things in the world.”

The mission behind Gotham Greens is so close to our hearts, in fact, that we’ve practically forgotten that they beat us out for the top spot in the 2009 Green Business Competition (we took second place!). It was a well-deserved win ☺. 

Like all of the best ideas, Gotham Greens was born in the Big Apple. And while we’re just waiting on the day when all of the nation’s cities catch up, we will revel in the fact that the basil on our pie was harvested this afternoon, and New Yorkers are the only ones who can say so.