Guilt-Free Pizza Box (But Not in the Way You Think!)

on July 20, 2010 at 11:25 AM

greenbox pizza

Wouldn't life be practically perfect if you could eat an entire pizza and not feel guilty? Maybe in the future we'll have this capability (I can dream, right?), but for now we'll have to settle for a guilt-free pizza box.

Whole Foods is introducing GreenBox -- a new environmentally friendly box manufactured from 100 percent recycled material and designed specifically to reduce waste. I know you're intrigued by the photo above ... here's how it works:

Customers can bring home Whole Foods' brick-oven pizza in the box, which then breaks down (via perforation) into smaller reusable containers. You can use a square of the box to serve a slice instead of a plate (see above right). Then, you can store any remaining slices in the small container on the left.

Still can't visualize it? Here's a quick demo:

Any way you perforate it, this clever box is much more manageable than the large, awkward standard-sized pizza boxes -- whether you're trying to shove it in your recycling bin or store leftover pizza in the fridge.

It's being rolled out in 30 Whole Foods stores in the Rocky Mountains states. I'd love to see it expand to stores nationwide and perhaps even adopted by other pizza chains.

It's encouraging to see companies paying attention to making food packaging more eco-friendly and reducing waste. Now, if we could only find easier, better, greener ways to insulate our to-go coffee cups, clean out peanut butter and jelly jars for the recycling bin, and reduce all the plastic waste from frozen meals, I just might have a chance at happiness.

Do you think standard pizza boxes are annoying and unwieldy? Which type of food packaging would you like to see get a more eco-friendly design?

Image via GreenBox

About the author Kim Conte

has shoes that make people stop her on the street and ask "Where did you get those?" but it doesn't work for taxi cabs as she was hit by one ... and lived to tell the tale. She has more freckles than Lohan but way less attitude. And she's a fierce cook with tons of recipes to share -- and wishes she could share some with Bourdain.

Filed Under: eco-friendly, food, eating out

Comments (6)

jeannesager

on Jul 20, 2010 at 11:30 AM

Most pizza boxes actually shouldn't be put in the recycling bin. According to the head of recycling for my county, the food residue on the box means they actually end up having to weed it out of the cardboard that comes into the plant and throw it out . . . making more work for the recycling operators and not really saving the planet any way.

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RanaAurora

on Jul 20, 2010 at 12:54 PM

I was gonna say what Jeanne said. I mean, if this box prevents you from using paper plates, then that's green... but otherwise, it's just overly complicated and kinda a waste of time and effort.

ProudSingleMum

on Jul 21, 2010 at 10:30 PM

Okay...I really don't care about the green thing, but MAN I think that's neat! :P It'd be fun!

Nonmember comment from PennyLane

on Jul 22, 2010 at 12:49 AM

Well, jeannesager, whether or not pizza boxes are recyclable is actually determined by the municipality you live in. In San Francisco, you must compost them, in other parts of the country they can be recycled. In still other parts of the country, if there is "EXCESSIVE" grease on the box, it cannot be recycled. On top of that, the key here is REUSE, which is ALWAYS preferable to RECYCLING!!! If one decides to use the box for plates, then it means they are saving on the use of additional disposable plates (which are usually either coated or made out of plastic!). On top of that, you save on aluminum foil and plastic wrap when you store the leftovers in rest of the box.