Cover Story
Untitled Page
Rent A Green Box
2010 Green Team, continued ...Published: June 01, 2010
Spencer BrownCosta Mesa • rentagreenbox.com • earthfriendlymoving.com
Founded: 2005 in Huntington Beach | Founder and Chief Green Officer: Spencer Brown
Consider all of the boxes just one person uses during a move to a new home, and then think about how many more a company would use in an office relocation. That’s a lot of cardboard that could end up in landfills. The thought of it bothered Spencer Brown so much that he came up with a solution: Rent A Green Box. Brown has invented more than 15 zero-waste moving products that are changing the way people around the world pack and move. He also reinvented the disposable moving box with Recopacks, which are made entirely from plastic mined from local landfills. Each box can be used more than 400 times and is crush-proof, tear-proof, and dust- and water-resistant. Perhaps best of all: Each box spares 12 trees in its lifespan. The company delivers the Recopacks one week before the moving date and picks them up a week after the move is complete. Then they’re cleaned, sanitized and delivered to the next client. When a box is worn out, the company grinds it down to make another Recopack. And all the transporting is done via Rent A Green Box’s fleet of alternative-fuel trucks – which also happens to be the largest in the state fueled by vegetable oil and bio fuel. Brown’s innovation hasn’t gone unnoticed: Rent A Green Box earned a 2009 California Small Business Award and a 2008 California Governor’s Economic and Environmental Leadership Award for new market technologies in recycling, and received two honorable mentions from the Green Dot Award program. And now, the company’s gone global, with operations in Canada, Japan and England.
“We only have one planet and currently consume seven planets’ worth of resources. At some point, we must rethink how we’re going to balance our current needs with the unrealized needs of our future generations.”
– Spencer Brown, Founder of Rent A Green Box
OC METRO'S 2010 GREEN TEAM
Poseidon Resources | Green Foam Blanks | Alere
The Costa Mesa Green Home | e-Recycling of California
The Irvine Co. | Kaiser Permanente Irvine Medical Center
B. Braun Medical Inc. | TowerJazz Semiconductor | UPS
Waste Management of Orange County | Nova Vita Salon & Spa
Irvine Ranch Water District | OCB Reprographics | City of Irvine
Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group & the City of Huntington Beach
Stantec Consulting | Rent A Green Box | Yard House Restaurants
McCarthy Building Cos. | Miocean Foundation | NuWa Textiles
Toshiba America Business Solutions | Cox Communications
Sustainability Leadership Program, UC Irvine Extension
You can create a greener workplace
|
||||
|
Spencer Brown Founded: 2005 in Huntington Beach | Founder and Chief Green Officer: Spencer Brown Consider all of the boxes just one person uses during a move to a new home, and then think about how many more a company would use in an office relocation. That’s a lot of cardboard that could end up in landfills. The thought of it bothered Spencer Brown so much that he came up with a solution: Rent A Green Box. Brown has invented more than 15 zero-waste moving products that are changing the way people around the world pack and move. He also reinvented the disposable moving box with Recopacks, which are made entirely from plastic mined from local landfills. Each box can be used more than 400 times and is crush-proof, tear-proof, and dust- and water-resistant. Perhaps best of all: Each box spares 12 trees in its lifespan. The company delivers the Recopacks one week before the moving date and picks them up a week after the move is complete. Then they’re cleaned, sanitized and delivered to the next client. When a box is worn out, the company grinds it down to make another Recopack. And all the transporting is done via Rent A Green Box’s fleet of alternative-fuel trucks – which also happens to be the largest in the state fueled by vegetable oil and bio fuel. Brown’s innovation hasn’t gone unnoticed: Rent A Green Box earned a 2009 California Small Business Award and a 2008 California Governor’s Economic and Environmental Leadership Award for new market technologies in recycling, and received two honorable mentions from the Green Dot Award program. And now, the company’s gone global, with operations in Canada, Japan and England. “We only have one planet and currently consume seven planets’ worth of resources. At some point, we must rethink how we’re going to balance our current needs with the unrealized needs of our future generations.” – Spencer Brown, Founder of Rent A Green Box OC METRO'S 2010 GREEN TEAM Poseidon Resources | Green Foam Blanks | Alere The Costa Mesa Green Home | e-Recycling of California The Irvine Co. | Kaiser Permanente Irvine Medical Center B. Braun Medical Inc. | TowerJazz Semiconductor | UPS Waste Management of Orange County | Nova Vita Salon & Spa Irvine Ranch Water District | OCB Reprographics | City of Irvine Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group & the City of Huntington Beach Stantec Consulting | Rent A Green Box | Yard House Restaurants McCarthy Building Cos. | Miocean Foundation | NuWa Textiles Toshiba America Business Solutions | Cox Communications Sustainability Leadership Program, UC Irvine Extension You can create a greener workplace |
||||
