At its annual Innovation Expo, a platform for ideas and prototypes to be developed for the benefit of its users, eBay awarded the grand prize to the simple enough idea of green shipping boxes. And now, the online auctioneer is putting that idea to practical use.

These cardboard boxes, which are made of 100% FSC-certified material, play on that age-old idea of ‘sharing’; they’re meant to be reused by buyers and sellers alike. Call it a green ‘pay-it-forward’, if you will.

The company has printed 100,000 of these boxes in three sizes and giving select eBay members a chance to try them out. And why wouldn’t they, going by these environmental benefits eBay has pointed out.

“If every box gets reused at least five times, we could protect nearly 4,000 trees, save 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes for a year,” wrote eBay’s Richard Brewer-Hay in a blog post.

There’s even space for users to write a personal message on the boxes, and the history of each one can be tracked through a virtual community.

A very noble idea, let’s hope eBay gives what it calls a “simple green shipping” solution the full-time service they deserve.

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