There are approximately 17 million shipping containers around the world, with only about 5-6 million currently in circulation. Often times, shipping containers are left stacked at their destination city, as it is cheaper to do that than to ship them back to Asia or Europe. These huge shipping ports are sitting on millions of unused shipping containers. So, what can we do with all of them? Is there an environmental-friendly way to handle all this?
One might say, “Couldn’t we just melt the shipping containers down and reuse the metal?” Well, that would take an absurd amount of energy (about the same amount as an average household in America uses in a year), which would not be efficient and certainly not eco-friendly.
What are some other options? Well, shipping containers are currently being repurposed for all sorts of interesting projects (read our last blog to see some of these), but most widely they are being recycled to build container homes!
Those who build their homes out of shipping containers are literally living inside a recyclable. They are utilizing the pre-used steel and giving the shipping container a new purpose. Additionally, by using recycled materials, they are reducing the overall demand for other resources that would be used to build a home from the ground up, like concrete, wood and bricks. Some estimate that it takes around 2 acres of trees to build the average American home!
Many people see shipping containers as an important player in our future of sustainable and eco-friendly architecture! Here at CargoHome we think using shipping containers to build homes is a viable way to reduce deforestation and excess production. What do you think? Leave your answers in the comments below!
It turns out, the answer to this question is not so simple. Since the shipping container has been around since the 1950’s (learn more about the history of shipping containers on our last blog post), there have been many other creative uses of the shipping container documented in the last 60 years! Continue reading
A recent article on CNN singing the praises of shipping container homes!
In 1937, a young trucker named Malcolm McLean was delivering a load of cotton to a harbor in Hoboken, New Jersey. As he watched workers slowly transport the boxes by hand onto a ship, the story goes, he thought there had to be a better way to do it.
Most everyone has heard of the popular shipping container home or container house. But as you seriously consider buying or building one you may wonder what it is about them that makes them so popular. Wonder no more–here are your answers. Continue reading