Core77

Building a better pizza box

By Rain Noe - September 22, 2010

in Object Culture

Julius Caesar once ruled the world's most powerful empire, but these days his chief legacy is that he's got a salad named after him. It's kind of messed up, if you think about it--a Cobb Salad is at least as popular, and I don't even know who the hell Cobb is.

Another ancient empire legacy food is pizza, which was reportedly invented in Ancient Greece (an assertion that can get you punched in the face in parts of Brooklyn). In America, the effects of pizza are pernicious: In addition to contributing to bulging waistlines, pizza is a high-waste food. Every pizza place I know delivers the pie in a cardboard box and throws in a stack of paper plates.A company called Eco Incorporated has invented the GreenBox, a better pizza box that we can at least get a little more use out of before we throw away, and which can perhaps supplant the paper plates:

I know it's not the sexiest thing in green design, but it's little things like this that can help make a difference in the long run. (I say this even though you never know what's going to happen in the future--just ask Caesar what he thought he'd be most remembered for.)

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Andy

14 years ago

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Great idea. If this has been patented in the 70s, why does noone use it. The world must change and use great ideas like this.
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Jo

14 years ago

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Just to let you know, Magoo's Pizza has this kind of box patented already since the 70s.
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The Tyrant

14 years ago

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It's actually quite efficient on a few scales. Time to start and finishing eating, storage space, and heat loss in transferring slices/serving.

Can you eat the cardboard too? ;p
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ammre

14 years ago

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Even if my local pizzeria doesn't use this type of box, Now that i've seen this I'm just going to cut the pizza boxes I do get.

I hope it works on those thinner boxes. I should find out, by which I mean, go have pizza.
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Brandy

14 years ago

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@sk Pizza boxes & paper plates often cannot be recycled because they're greasy. Even if we were able to recycle pizza boxes, at least this would eliminate (or reduce) the need for paper plates, and reduce our use of paper.
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Johnny

14 years ago

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I'm a US designer working in Hong Kong. Just though I should let you know that this same kinda of box has been out here for about five years now.

@acheung I think it the store is actually called Pizza Box... ironic?

Still it's a perfect product for the US market.
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sk

14 years ago

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Pizza boxes and paper plates go straight to the recycle bin. Not a big deal at all.
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Koz

14 years ago

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When I was watching that I was wondering how you would store the uneaten half of the pizza, and then he folded the box over. That's amazing!
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Karsten

14 years ago

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Perfect for the job site or in the garage. Love it
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Benjamin

14 years ago

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This is very amazing. Wouldn't think of the leftover box idea, just eight plates. Makes too much sense not to be implemented. Could the patent be open-sourced?
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Ben

14 years ago

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Thats clever thinkin'!
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acheung

14 years ago

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Hmm I've already had a pizza delivered to me in a box just like this from Dominoes (I think), in Hong Kong. So either Dominoes already acquired the design ages ago, or these guys didn't exactly "invent" it.
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Gershon

14 years ago

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I think my mind was just blown.
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Andrew Monks

14 years ago

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The Caesar and Cobb salads were both named after their inventors: Caesar Cardini and Bob Cobb.
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