Ocean freight can cause environmental pollution, because millions of shipping containers coming from Asia litter North-American and European harbours. There is not enough export freight to ship them back to their country of origin. 300 million containers have been put on garbage dumps, where they slowly fall into disrepair.
In 1987, an entrepreneur had the idea of transforming these millions of shipping containers into housing and, since then, the idea has flourished. In Amsterdam, 3 000 students now live in apartments made from containers.
But there’s more.
Because of their shape and their material, shipping containers can be easily modified to fit many purposes. They are used fpr workers’ accommodations in Mexico, TV studios and prison cells.