Marty Metro is an eco-entrepreneur and successful CEO with a “if at first you don’t succeed” attitude… and a track record to prove it! After earning an MBA and being known as an early-expert in SAP (mid 90s), Metro risked it all to be an eco-entrepreneur… and failed miserably.  He then tried a bigger and better approach, which succeeded!

Metro educates and inspires audiences of all sizes that environmental initiatives don’t have to be expensive. Implemented properly, they can actually make money. Metro and his team call it “Sustainable Sustainability” and he shares his passion for both THINKING ABOUT and IMPLEMENTING, sustainable sustainability programs.

In 2002, well before the environmental movement took off as we know it, Metro launched Boomerang Boxes, a chain of eco-friendly retail stores that bought/sold USED moving boxes.. He had dreams of a national franchise and scaled the idea to four retail locations.  But just 3 years in, it became clear his attempt was premature, undercapitalized and riddled with logistic flaws. In short, it was simply not “sustainable”.  After 3 long years of massive losses, no profit and no income, Metro was forced to cease all operations, leaving himself (and his supportive wife) with not just an empty bank account, but $300,000+ of personal debt!

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Devastated but not discouraged, Metro took a “day job” as a technology consultant (leveraging his then-outdated knowledge of SAP) and spent nights and weekends rehashing his mistakes. His relentless entrepreneurial drive lead him to revise the business plan, raise capital and re-launch a scalable, tech-centric model to buy and sell MILLIONS of used boxes, just one year later. 

That revised plan was renamed UsedCardboardBoxes.com and grew to a national reuse logistics firm now working with some of the largest, most well known companies in the country (Califia Farms, Dole, Family Dollar/ Dollar Tree, General Mills, Kellogg, Keurig, McCain Foods, McCormick Spice, Menard’s, Rolex, Simplot, Taylor Farms, TJMaxx/Marshalls, Walgreens, Walmart and 100s more).  Metro’s rough journey to success has been covered by most major news outlets throughout the years.

Entrepreneur Magazine featured Metro and in an article entitled:

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“From Business Failure to Multimillion-Dollar 'Green' Niche“

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Metro’s knack for applying sophisticated technology to a traditionally low-tech industry was just the beginning.  Seeing first hand all of the other “waste” that UsedCardboardBoxes’ clients were PAYING to process drove Metro and his team mad!  They saw so many major US manufacturers mismanaging and undervaluing perfectly recyclable and/or reusable commodities by simply throwing them away!  This meant unnecessarily high waste bills and missed revenue opportunities from recycling and reuse.  So Metro and his team leveraged the knowledge, experience and technology they had created over the years, to tackle ALL solid waste, via UCBZeroWaste.  This new asset-light company is a waste reduction firm that helps clients manage ALL commodities, ALL vendors, ALL logistics, ALL monthly invoicing and ALL reporting, using its own proprietary software called WATER (Waste Analytics & Tracking for Environmental Reporting).  UCBZeroWaste’s program and software are now used by some of the largest, most recognizable brands in the country, including McCormick Spice (#1 Must Sustainable Food Company), Dole, Kellogg and even Rolex!

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Over the past few years Metro and his team have leveraged their experience, technology and stellar reputation in the industry to create an umbrella brand, for all of these operations units, and more!  Metro launched UCBEnvironmental - a family of companies focused on “Sustainable Sustainability™”. Within this umbrella, there are multiple distinct operating units: UsedCardboardBoxes.com, UCBPalletSolutions, UCBOrganicWaste, UCBTrading and UCBZeroWaste.

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Metro is an inspirational example of how businesses CAN balance environmental responsibility with financial returns and is available to be booked for speaking engagements that inspire “Sustainable Sustainability”. 

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Metro graduated Cum Laude from the University of Maryland and earned an MBA in Information Systems & Management from the University of Arizona, before beginning his career as a SAP consultant with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). After almost a decade of helping large companies increase profits by utilizing enterprise technology, Metro is now a nationally recognized eco-entrepreneur helping companies reduce waste (cost) and increase recycling & reuse (revenue).