Bbox : the Boomerang Box

Project

269014

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Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS RISING STARS : concepts or ideas submitted by young talents (aged 30 or less)

Project title

Bbox : the Boomerang Box

Full concept/idea title

Description

Bbox is an innovative wooden box designed to contain organic products. A box that contains a world of values, symbols, economic, cultural and social exchanges becomes a container that is a physical metaphor for a virtuous process. Made from a single sheet of poplar plywood, Bbox is assembled entirely with a game of joints. It has more than a second life in the user's home, with the aim of educating him to a more sustainable lifestyle through loyalty in the home shopping service associated.

Where is your concept/idea being developed or intended to be implemented in the EU?

Please provide a summary of your concept/ idea

Bbox is an innovative wooden box designed to contain organic products. The project won the second prize of the 2020 Contest promoted by Rilegno, the Italian consortium that deals with the collection, recovery and recycling of wood packaging. Rilegno launches a competition of ideas to rethink the wooden box as a new packaging for organic products under the motto "nature transports nature". The challenge was to reinvent the wooden box to design a new container for organic products, rethinking the relationship between the physical object, the consumer goods it contains, the relationship with the commercial chain (from logistics to the point of sale) and the relationship with the consumer.  Sustainability was key in every single phase of the production cycle : from raw material, to assembly and transportation, to reuse and recycle. In order to minimize waste in every part, Bbox is obtained from one panel of popular plywood, CNC-cutted in a single pass. The pieces that are leftovers of the processing are used later for creating new furnishing. It is entirely assembled thanks to a full-body interlocking system, which avoids the use of metal joints or glues. Bbox is easily disassembled allowing transport in flat pack mode.  The concept was born thinking of the delivery services of organic products at home: we imagined a real collaboration between Rilegno, supplier of Bbox cassettes, and Cortilia, a delivery service of organic products, creating a synergy guided by the values of sustainability and the circular economy. The user is responsible for the future of the box, with the aim of educating him to a more sustainable lifestyle through loyalty in the home shopping service. Infact, the user can choose the returnable option, or, thanks to the Bbox collection, every 3 boxes the user will receive the cover to transform it into a real container, every 5 a kit to create a small box vegetable garden and every 10 boxes the elements to build

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of sustainability and how these would be met

The sustainable objectives that this project wants to convey are mainly four. The creation of a system of products linked to a service that ensures its efficiency: Bbox fits into a contemporary context. An increasing number of consumers prefer suppliers of organic and local food to large retailers. For those who live in large urban centers, however, it is often difficult to reach these realities, therefore the e-commerce delivery channels of organic food ( such as Cortilia, in the case we have considered in Milan ) are increasingly widespread. The delivery model, however, always brings with it the implications of waste and disposable packaging, a problem that Bbox wants to overcome. Circular economy : in accordance with the principles of circular economy, the message that Bbox transmits is "Less waste, more value". By giving a second life to the product through the reuse by the user or the vacuum mode to make operated by the companies in play, you get huge benefits in terms of sustainability and economy. Educating responsible consumption : The Boomerang Box Collection campaign aims to raise user awareness on sustainability issues, conveying the values of recycling and reuse in everyday life. The user is responsible for the future of Bbox: chooses whether to reuse it or return it to the service that will use it for subsequent deliveries. Both choices are consciously sustainable. Community with shared values : Loyalty to the service encourages the growth of a community of users with strong shared values and a more ecological lifestyle, who choose a renewed and sustainable product. With user-friendly interfaces and online spaces where users can share content, we want to create a big virtual family.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these would be met

A wooden box for organic products is a simple, timeless, and also a everyday object. It has been used in street food markets all over the world for many generations. Bbox’s aesthetic and functional renewal relies on these values. The use of wood is fundamental: this is par excellence the natural and sustainable material, and combined with the values mentioned above, manages to introduce into the domestic dimension a sense of "return to the origins" and a sense of belonging to nature. In fact, through Bbox, a process of rural revival takes place: the wooden box enters the house with products grown from the ground, with respect for the environment. The user is then responsible for the life cycle of this box: reuse it inside the home, or choose the vacuum to render. Both options are made possible only thanks to the use of a material that is more aesthetically pleasing and more durable than plastic: wood. The wood used in the project also comes from the Italian national wood recycling chain, supported by Rilegno. The cassette is therefore entirely inserted in a production, reuse and recycling cycle, of which the user is fully aware. Wood is simply the most representative material for all these values, thanks to its warmth, its simplicity and its beauty.  

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept/idea in terms of inclusion and how these would be been met

The key objective in terms of inclusion of our project are related to: 1. Synergy One of the key objectives of Bbox is to create a synergy between different actors to foster a more sustainable system with a common goal. In fact, the box is designed to be produced in collaboration between Rilegno, the Italian consortium that deals with the collection, recovery and recycling of wood packaging, and Cortilia, a biological food delivery service based in Milan. Thanks to the new system in fact, actors from different fields can cooperate and be more sustainable. The BBox system could also fit in different scenarios: from city food delivery to small town realities, including small local producers. 2. Accessibility Sustainability should not be a concept related to luxury, as an exclusive value for just a few people. It is something simple that connects us to nature. Bbox wants to be accessible to everyone, thanks to inexpensive materials and its simplicity of production, transport and assembly.  3. Design for all Design for all was a key concept in Bbox development. Sustainability values should be accessible to most of the people. In fact, Bbox is designed for young but also elderly, families but also singles, adults but also children, who can enjoy our product in a personal way.  

Please explain the innovative character of your concept/ idea

Bbox is an innovative product, which interprets the concept of boxes for organic products in a new way, giving it a new meaning. The wooden box, the one we see at the market, is an apparently common object, but it contains a world of economic, cultural and social values. It is a metaphor of recycling, circular economy and use of natural raw materials. The wooden boxes represent, in fact, a sustainable and green packaging capable of guaranteeing a real circular economy.  The wooden Bbox in particular, fosters the concept of circular economy inserting itself into a circular product-service system which gives a second life to the product itself through the re-use by the user or the return vacuum mode operated by the companies involved. All this allows to minimize the resources used, extend the life cycle of the product and the reuse of waste, which is recovered and subsequently recycled. Bbox also has an educational goal: raising user awareness on sustainability issues, transmitting the values of recycling and reuse in everyday life. For a more sustainable world, the new generations and not only, must be educated to become agents of change, through new knowledge, skills, values but also new habits. The creation of a community around the product service system linked to the values of sustainability wants to spread this process of mind changing.  

Please detail the plans you have for the further development, promotion and/or implementation of your concept/idea, with a particular attention to the initiatives to be taken before May 2022

In October 2020 Bbox received the second prize of the Rilegno Contest 2020. From that moment on, what was only a concept, began to become a real project, with the ultimate goal of implementation in the market. Immediately the first thing to do was to stay in contact with Rilegno to verify the feasibility of production within the Italian packaging chain. The next steps by 2022 consist in the prototyping of a small series of pieces, to be tested with selected delivery partners of organic products, in parallel to the construction of a consistent brand of innovative packaging.  The goal by 2022 is therefore to have a business plan to find a producer and propose Bbox to the main delivery of organic food in Milan. If this objective were achieved, the same model could be proposed in most European capitals, with the support of local producers and timber sectors, creating a network of sustainable realities.  Following the success of this step, the Bbox system could also be proposed to small Italian companies: biological producers of local food or wine. So, why do we think that Bbox project is so important to carry on? The answer is what it represents: a boomerang. All good deeds that you do, have a positive return. The introduction of Bbox is not only a new object in the home, it is a model of thought that can scratch good habits for the environment.  

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed concept/idea has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Rising Stars Awards more than once in the same category.