Green Boxes at MIT

creative, original
adoptable, replicable
promises impact, influence
inspires, motivates change
paradigm shifting, game changing

Why is it innovative?
Student-driven initaitive reducing waste in dining halls and directly addressing sustainabilty on campus through the use of environmentally friendly, reusable containers.

More Information

From the MIT News website:

Say goodbye to plastic-foam containers in the Next House dining hall: Thanks to a new program developed by the residents of Next House, diners now can checkout a reusable “green box.” “The containers were harmful to the environment — and to Next House,” said house dining chair Anne Juan, a junior in mathematics. In the past, Juan noted, common spaces were cluttered with discarded plastic-foam containers, leaving behind both a mess to clean up and an odor problem.

“The card idea developed from feedback we received that some people didn’t want to keep a dirty container overnight until they could exchange it for a clean one the next day,” Juan said. Now students have the option to bring the green box back the same night in exchange for a card that they can then use to checkout a container in the future.

In the new system, students get a free, wallet-sized card that allows them to checkout an EcoClamshell (also known as eco-takeout boxes or “green boxes”) and then exchange it for a clean one the next day.