Smart Ideas 04/05 Getting kids cooking, non-violent computer games and more

What: Online and retail "brokerage house" forused cardboard boxes and plastic bins
Who: Marty Metro, founder of BoomerangBoxes.com
Where: Los Angeles
When: Started in 2003

When Marty Metro and his wife added up the number of times eachof them had moved over the years, it came out to an astounding 29times. Metro, 34, knew they weren't alone in using massiveamounts of cardboard boxes and was convinced he could help movers,businesses and the environment by creating a solution to thecardboard quandary. Says Metro, "I'm a systems guy; mylife revolves around using technology to enable businessprocesses."

With a decade of experience working and consulting onlarge-scale business technology, Metro made it his goal to build anonline marketplace that would allow big companies to get rid oftheir used boxes and scraps in an earth-friendly way, as well asoffer companies and individuals the opportunity to buy usedcardboard boxes at roughly half the price of new ones. Leaving thelucrative corporate life he had known, Metro traded in his BMW fora delivery truck and developed the web-based infrastructure thatwould help him fulfill his earth-friendly goals.