Living Containerization: or You May Keep the Box

Worldwide,by the early 2000s, 300 million 20-foot containers were moved by sea each year, with over a quarter of those shipments coming from China. It has even been predicted that, at some point, container ships will be constrained in size only by the depth of the Straits of Malacca—one of the world's busiest shipping lanes—linking the Indian Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. This so-called Malaccamax size constrains a ship to dimensions of 470 m in length and 60 m wide (1542 feet by 197 feet).

The millions of containers used to ship the wealthy world’s products may now be used to house the poor. Intermodal shipping units (metal shipping containers) are widely being considered as potential housing pods. Emergency housing for use in disasters such as Haiti’s recent earthquake and even longer term housing uses are being explored.

I guess we should be pleased that a secondary use can be found for the ubiquitous symbol of world trade. It is a practical, well intentioned reuse of these containers but is this the best we can do for the chronically poor nations of the world? Wealthy nations should put some thought into changing this system that litters the globe with giant metal boxes, only to hand them down to the poor for housing after discarding them.

A university press release this week touts this container industry funded effort.

Many Caribbean countries import more containers than they export, which leads to the surplus of containers in those nations.
“The project has a double mission: to address the local need of providing adequate housing for people in need while solving a global problem of recycling – giving purpose to empty containers that would otherwise be discarded,” said a Clemson University professor involved in the container industry funded project

As part of this research, the group is studying the cycles of natural disasters by looking at the larger picture through mapping and logistics to understand how containers move, available surpluses and ultimately coordinating the cycles of natural disasters with the ebb and flow of container supplies worldwide.

Also posted at Green Mountain Daily