Greener & Cleaner

Today, 80% of consumers consider themselves environmentally concerned. And, in a nation where restaurants use 7 times more energy than any other commercial building, they darn well should be.

According to the National Restaurant Association, “environmental sustainability” will be a hot trend in 2016, with eateries taking action to reduce their carbon footprints. And, after switching to the GreenBox (of course ☺), there are all sorts of ways - big and small - to go green.

These are just a few of our favorites.

1. Local Lovin’
Love thy neighbor, source locally! When you purchase from a farmer’s market or other local vendor, you’re investing back into the community - and saving big on fuel, too. 

Here in NYC, pizzerias have it made. Thanks to Gotham Greens, a 15,000 square foot greenhouse sits atop Brooklyn’s Whole Foods, where over 100 tons of leafy greens are harvested annually. GreenBox users Two Boots and Emily both take advantage of this urban rooftop garden, layering their artisan pies with fresh basil, arugula and “rooftop red” tomatoes 365 days per year.

2. Durable Décor
Why have regular chairs when you can rock recycled ones? Yes, that’s a thing - and we’re all about it. At Manhattan’s Pizza by Certe, the countertops are crafted from recycled bottles and the architectural millwork has been sourced from wheat. Even their walls, ceiling panels and cabinets are made from reclaimed materials. Certe’s “vertical garden” is a showstopper, growing fresh basil during the warmer months. We know, we know. These guys bring Certified 3-Star Green Restaurant to a whole new level. And we love ‘em for it.

3. Earthy Equipment
When it comes to sustainability, small changes add up. According to Pizza Today, a restaurant can cut 10% of its total electric bill just by switching to LED light bulbs. If you’re hoping to preserve water, incorporating flow-restricted faucets is the way to go, saving up to 73,000 gallons of water per year.

But, if you’re lookin’ to go green all the way, Neapolitan Express is the fleet to beat. The first mobile restaurant powered entirely by natural energy, their planet-friendly practices drew the attention of former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg. Their brick and mortar location - the very first pizzeria on Wall Street - just wouldn’t be complete without a solar-paneled roof & community garden.

In a world of conscious consumers, how will you make a difference?

"Out of the Box": 10 of Our Best-Kept Secrets

It's a pizza box, 4 plates and a storage container. Oh my! 

Friends of GreenBox all know and love our eco-friendly "genius pizza box" (the one that's changing the world, one pizza box at a time ☺), but we're betting even our biggest fans will learn a little something today. 

So, since we just feasted on a large pie and we're feelin' good (and in a partial food coma) we thought we'd share some of our best-kept secrets. It's time we let them out of the box, dontcha think?

Here goes nothin'!

1. Even celebrities love the GreenBox. Back in 2009, A-list actor and Twitter aficionado Ashton Kutcher tweeted about our product with one simple word: "Smart." For a young start-up, the moment was huge. Six years later and we still brag about it to our friends. 

2. The GreenBox wasn't a gift from the Gods. It was actually invented by our co-founder, William Walsh, back in college. Living in a frat house left a lot to be desired (including clean dishes), so Will began tearing pizza box tops into plates. One X-acto knife and 100 pizza boxes later, Will came up with a use for the bottom of the box, too: a compact storage container for leftovers. It was then and there that the GreenBox design was born. 

3. The GreenBox may be American-made, but it's available to pizzerias all over the globe. In fact, the GreenBox is making waves "down under" through our partner in Australia (heck yeah, mate!), as well as in Central America, the Middle East and, in coming months, Europe! We just couldn't keep this game-changer to ourselves. ☺ 

4. In 2009, GreenBox was founded by three best friends - and today, we are infinitely proud to call one of those founders our President. Jennifer Wright-Laracy left her stable finance job behind to pursue her dream of entrepreneurship (and pizza obsession). Her story was recently spotlighted on CNBC's "Escaping the Cube." How's that for an awesome leader?

5. Our GreenBox demo video currently boasts over 5.6 million views. That's five times the number of people living in the state of Rhode Island. Just let that soak in for a minute. 

6. The GreenBox was named one of Time Magazine's Best Inventions of 2009. Check out GreenBox creator Will Walsh spotlighted in all his pizza-loving glory. This photo will hang on our wall for years to come, and we couldn't be prouder.

7. Arturo's Pizzeria in Maplewood, NJ and the Big Apple's Pizza by Certe were the first users of the GreenBox - and have both stayed loyal to us from the beginning. Their unwavering faith in our product has helped make GreenBox the new standard of pizza boxes. How lucky are we? 

8. Following a nomination by Whole Foods, the GreenBox was the winner of the Responsible Packaging Award in 2010 (psst: The GreenBox is in half of the Whole Foods' across the U.S.). 

9. We've met some cool people along the way. After being selected by Wharton as one of the "Top 25 Most Promising Start-ups," we were lucky enough to snap this photo with CNBC Host Donny Deutsch at the award ceremony. Don't worry - we made sure to reel him into the GreenBox fan club.

10. We've made the media rounds. In 2014, we were in the hands of Rachael Ray, on set of The Chew, and spotlighted by Today.com, The Huffington Post, the LA Times, BuzzFeed and more (really - the list is crazy long). Then, just a few months ago - the GreenBox was featured on ABC's "Shark Tank" and CNBC's "Power Lunch." It's been one heck of a whirlwind, and we're thrilled to have you along for the ride. 

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. 

Fan Frenzy: #Instacraze

We've officially jumped on the bandwagon.

That’s right – the “transformers of pizza boxes” has made its way to Instagram. Better late than never, don’t you think?

Ok ok, so it’s been over a week and we still haven’t posted our first photo. There’s just so much pressure. BUT… we have stalked the hashtag #GreenBox like it's our job, and were delighted to see how many fans & customers have shared pictures of us. So much so that we screen-shotted every single one for safekeeping.

Since we don’t want to bore you with endless photos of what is clearly the best invention in the whole world, we thought we’d share just a few of our favorites. ☺

@Greenboxny is the name, and #pizza is the game. We’d love to see you there. 

2013 in a Nutshell (Or More Appropriately, A GreenBox)

With the holidays almost over and the long winter deep freeze upon us, we thought we'd take a fond look back at all of the exciting events of 2013...

- In November, the GreenBox pizza box was prominently featured in the book, Viva La Pizza!. Written by Scott Weiner and described by the Wall Street Journal as "a little slice of art," Viva La Pizza! is a fascinating look at an overlooked art form, and classic part of our eating lifestyle, the pizza box. See side panel for an excerpt about the GreenBox pizza box from Weiner's book

-  In June, alongside our distributor partner Roma Foods / Performance Food Group, we launched a brand new custom GreenBox at the Jimmy's Pizza chain of pizza restaurants! Established in 1986, Jimmy's Pizza operates 36 locations in Minnesota and five more locations in the Dakotas and Wisconsin.  If you love a thick crust and lots of cheese, Jimmy's Pizza will be up your alley!  And the Jimmy Stix... fresh baked dough brushed with garlic butter, sprinkled with parmesan cheese and served with warm marinara sauce, makes for the perfect side dish. 

-  In July, we launched our DoggieBox storage container and all sizes of our GreenBox pizza box on Amazon.com, making the GreenBox brand accessible across the country! 

-  In September, GreenBox was the proud sponsor of several charity events, including the 15th hole at Connecticut distributor Russell Hall's annual golf tournament, with proceeds from the event donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

-  Also in September, alongside our long-time customer Pizza by Certe, we were the proud sponsor of the annual New York Pizza Run (organized by Jason Feirman, writer of our favorite blog, "I Dream of Pizza"), with event proceeds donated to the  Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.

-  In October, we were a proud sponsor and donator of over 1,000 GreenBox pizza boxes for the annual Slice Out Hunger event (organized by Scott Weiner of Scott's Pizza Tours), with event proceeds donated to Food Bank for New York City.

And so, with 2014 fast approaching, we look forward to another exciting year of introducing many more cutting edge, eco-friendly new products, and getting involved in causes that mean something to our company, our community and our customers! We at Ecovention, LLC wish our loyal readers a healthy, happy and environmentally friendly 2014!

Whole Foods GreenBox Part of Brand Packaging's Sustainable Design Gallery

In its April edition every year, Brand Packaging Magazine gives mention to a short list of brands that are "making their mark on the ever-evolving path toward sustainable package design" and which are "thoughtfully incorporating their equities and the needs of consumers into their environmental efforts". Always a top-of-mind-brand when it comes to such criteria, Whole Foods Markets was deservedly, and not surprisingly, included in Brand Packaging magazine's round-up of sustainable packaging solutions. It was, however, the package behind the the organic grocer's mention that got us folks here at Ecovention, LLC quite excited. Yep, you guessed it - it was the GreenBox that caught the attention of Brand Packaging Magazine, and we couldn't be prouder. 


As Brand Packaging Magazine explains so eloquently: "By using 100 percent recycled material, rather than virgin or a mixture of recycled and virgin fiber, the box generates profound environmental benefits: Data from the US Environmental Protection Agency shows that recycling one ton of paper saves three cubic yards of landfill, 4,100 kilowatt hours of electricity, 7,000 gallons of water and 17 mature trees."..."The package also reduces waste by eliminating the need for disposable or ceramic plates, as well as food wrap or foil for leftovers — and it can be recycled or composted in communities with appropriate commercial facilities." We couldn't have said it better ourselves.


So take a few minutes to peruse the simple, elegant GreenBox and the other ingenious packaging designs it is keeping company with in the latest edition of Brand Packaging Magazine (in print or online)... and enjoy a brick oven pizza from Whole Foods while you're at it.

Whole Foods Is Carrying The GreenBox!!!

Remember when I said that the GreenBox would soon be appearing in businesses all over the nation? And that soon, you wouldn't be able to swing a dead cat without hitting a GreenBox? Well, I've got some bad news for people who like swinging dead cats without hitting GreenBoxes: we just took another major step towards our stated goal of nationwide domination.

Whole Foods, the hottest and most high-profile grocery store chain in the United States, has decided to stock the GreenBox in 30 Whole Foods stores in the Rocky Mountain region.

It’s a partnership that makes good sense; Whole Foods and ECOvention (that’s us) are both committed to environmental responsibility and sustainable business practices. And just like Whole Foods, we here at ECOvention strive to balance respect for the environment with greater functionality for the consumer. The best of both worlds – Whole Foods and the GreenBox (click the link to see our cute-as-a-button web commercial)!

And just look at that box (above) – it’s a work of art!

Granted, that picture leaves a bit to be desired. I took it on an iPhone in the kitchen of our NYC offices, but what’dya want from me? I’m the intern, not Ansel bloody Adams. But even with my poor photography skills, I think you’ll agree that the two logos go great together.

I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to create a real community around this product, and that’s where you, the readers of this blog, come in. Do me a big favor – head over to the Whole Foods blog and tell them how happy you are to see the GreenBox in their product line. And if you don’t live in the Rocky Mountain region, go ahead and tell ‘em that you won’t be happy until the Whole Foods in your area is stocking the GreenBox. That’s called “grassroots”, folks, and it really works.

I gotta go spit-shine CEO William Walsh’s slippers…but leave me some love and I’ll talk to you all soon.

XO,

The GreenBox Intern