Love food trucks, but hate the disposable food container waste? For Portlanders, a reusable option is in the works. Go Box wants to make reusable to-go containers for Portland’s food truck crowd.

 

Food truck vendors don’t have dishwashing facilities on their vehicles, while health regulations prohibit people from simply bringing their own reusable containers to food trucks. That’s where Go Box comes in. For a one-time $8.50 fee, “Cartivores” can buy a reusable Go Box container when they get their meal at a participating food truck. Once the food is gone, cartivores can return their containers to a Go Box receptacle — and get a token in exchange. The next time a food truck rolls by, cartivores can use the token to get their meal in a Go Box.

 

Go Box takes care of the pick up, professional cleaning, and redelivery of the reusable containers to the food trucks, which pay a monthly fee for the Go Box service and also get a $1.50 bonus for each Go Box container sold.

 

I rarely eat at a food truck even though we have several organic ones in Los Angeles — mainly because of the packaging waste involved. But if Go Box takes off in Portland and goes national, I hope to enjoy on-street dining a little more often! I hope this reusable idea expands — both for food trucks and for take out orders at non-mobile restaurants,  too.

 

For now, Go Box is still in a pilot phase. According to Neighborhood Notes, the second phase of Go Box’s pilot begins next month. Stay tuned.