Delivery Boxes: OmniBox

Usually delivered from late morning through mid-afternoon, these boxes are the real workhorse of the system and are used to bring a wide variety of goods to and from households.

Overview

These are the size of a traditional cardboard grocery box (40x36x49 cm or 16x14x20 in.) but made of brown plastic. They are used:

• to deliver groceries closer to daily than weekly now there is no delivery charge or hassle staying in for the delivery van
• to deliver all small to medium-sized goods ordered over the internet - DVDs, books, gifts etc.
• to take away metal, plastic and glass for recycling.

The colour is chosen partly to blend in with most kitchens but mostly in homage to their ancestor, the humble cardboard box.

Use

These are approximately the depth and half the interior height of a standard kitchen cupboard shelf and, indeed, fit lengthways in a half-height kitchen drawer.

Although single skinned, they are reinforced and have handles moulded into each end. This lets us use them to carry pretty much anything that will fit in them and also allows them to be piled several deep without being crushed. As regards what will fit into them, they should accommodate the vast majority of items that are bought.

Impact

Whatever size is adopted as the standard, there will inevitably be some items that are just too large to fit comfortably. Two litre fizzy drinks bottles, for example, would have to be laid flat, taking up a large portion of the base. Once a standard becomes accepted, more and more products will be repackaged over time to fit more comfortably within the proportions of the box.

Getting groceries this way, one day at a time means there will be less need for large freezers in every home. Even the amount of chilled goods such as milk that is kept can be reduced given that replenishment only takes a few hours. This should let households get by with smaller fridges and freezers - which are not only more economical but also take up less precious space within the house. The need for huge larders and kitchen cupboards is also reduced.

Oversize Items

As grocery shopping is not done so far in advance and the incentives to needlessly buy in bulk are removed, so we may find that the oversized containers are rarely purchased. The most problematic item is the French loaf. Even diagonally, it won’t fit in. I see four possibilities:

• bakers make shorter French loaves
• we add a hinge to the middle of international standard French loaves. A brief karate chop to the centre of the dough before cooking should do the trick.
• delivery drivers have a large sack of French loaves in their cab and are instructed to lift one as needed.
• France opts out of the system for the foreseeable future

Internal Dividers

The box contains a pair of dividers crossing at right-angles that can be moved back and forwards across the box. They can both be pushed right into the sides leaving the full box area accessible or they can be lifted up and moved so that the join is anywhere in the box. As you push the dividers down again, they lock into position. This lets you create four compartments of variable size within the box. This serves two purposes:

• If there is room in the box for any of the contents to move around and/or topple over, the compartment it is in can be shrunk to hold it tight. This removes the need for packing material like polystyrene “peanuts” or sealed air bags in most cases.
• The box can be divided into two or four compartments to keep up to four different sets of contents apart. This is useful for loose vegetables for example but its primary purpose is to segregate different categories of recyclable waste.  The four corners of the box are labelled clearly, with words and symbols indicating glass, metal, plastic and compostable waste embossed into the plastic so as not to rub off after heavy use.

Hygiene

As part of the automated emptying and sorting of recyclables, the boxes can be blasted clean at the hub before being reused.

Temperature Control

The MealBox is insulated and hence good for delivering small amounts of heated, chilled or frozen goods. Most  OmniBoxes will not be so well-insulated but some may specially constructed with double skins and/or space for cooling blocks or even connection to active systems that pump heated or cooled air through them or into the gaps between their walls.