Ox Box eco-board® Weatherproof Triple-wall Boxes Aid Rescue Mission on South Pole Island
Part Two: South Georgia Island Case Study
“At about 17:00 on May 18th, as the light was fading at the end of a bitterly cold day, the last bait pellet from the last bag at the last depot dropped onto the Parydin Peninsula at the western tip of South Georgia. That pellet bounced and settled into the scree on a steep mountainside, and the moment that had seemed so far away for so long was finally upon us. We had finished. We had really finished.”
This was part of the final transmission of zoologist Tony Martin whose 25-man team had undertaken the largest rat eradication in history. An incredible habitat restoration project to save populations of wildlife indigenous to this remote location from the ravenous creatures.
Ox Box was proud to be part of this historic accomplishment.
A hurdle which threatened the success of the project before it would begin was a method of containing the pelletized poison for delivery. The journey would be 17,000 miles and take four months mostly on board ships. Once there, the product would need to be airlifted to land where it would be stored outside for several months. After use, the containers would need to be left behind with little or no environmental impact.
An ideal solution would be Ox Box’s eco-board® weatherproof crate boxes. eco-board® is a corrugated material that incorporates plastic from recycled water bottles to enable the boxes to withstand exposure to the elements. The unique chemical make-up allows the boxes to be recyclable and biodegradable. In addition to being ecologically sound, eco-board® crate boxes are extremely strong and durable. This would prove critical for the project as each box would need to contain 800 lbs. of pellets and stack three high.
“We deployed 450 Ox Boxes by helicopter and used the contents of everyone. The boxes were absolutely superb. Not one was damaged or crushed when we unstuffed them. I rather think that they will quickly become the industry standard for this type of work now.” Tony Martin
What challenge will eco-board® boxes face next? When an off-the-shelf solution proved elusive, Ox Box proposed an innovative product that exceeded expectations.