Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade

The reuse of shipping containers is becoming a rather trendy thing. There are many projects for the 3rd world, and many design/architecture projects for the 1st world. I don't think containers make good building materials, for many reasons not worth listing here. One additional critique is that the reasons for taking a container out of circulation (damage, corrosion, pollution) are exaclty the reasons you wouldn't want them for construction. So for construction, you have to buy a working container (especially if you want to ship it as a kitchen to the 3rd world), so building with containers is not recycling but more like buying an alternative construction material.

Also, I wonder how good it is for local cultures to have religious organizations parachute food and foreign religion into their communities. That whole "teach a person to fish..." thing.

Couple more details on the points you brought up:

1) I think they buy used (not decommissioned) containers for the reasons you specified. So it is more like an alternative building material rather than true recycling. The biggest advantage is standardization and speed to launch so they can replicate in many places that don't have local materials available (i.e. Haiti) or where a local construction project from scratch would be nearly impossible to get off the ground.

2) The kitchens actually resell their food for very cheap to local ministries and non profits and is run by locals. (Volume/standardization = much cheaper food). So, self sustainability is built into their model. The South African kitchen is run and supported 100% by the community at this point.

Hi. Longshoreman here. I work around at the busiest port(s) in the USA and the 5th busiest port(s) in the world. Driving through and working around the 100,000's containers at the harbor never gets old even after working there for 7 years.

There are some interesting things I can say about containers after working with them up close:

• Half of the containers we export are empties. The way the process works is we get a majority of full containers from the East (China, Japan, etc.), unload them, and send them empty boxes. Quartz covered this recently: http://qz.com/64779/america-exports-a-lot-of-air/

• A refrigerated container is called a "reefer". We call the mechanics that work on these reefer mechanics. A 40 foot chasis is called a 40. So yeah, chatter on the radio channels talks about reefers, 40's, and (work) gangs.

• Here is a pic I took one night of the cranes before they started to "pump" (work). http://imgur.com/oxGNz9b

• I have a draft of a post almost done about what it is that Longshoremen do now a days. It's obviously changed a lot from unloading shit by hand. I met an old timer that would use a hook to stab a giant ice block to pick out the fish. This was before reefers. (I actually just published the post. It's not complete, but it has more general info about longshoremen and containers: http://raymondduke.com/who-are-longshoremen-what-do-they-do-...)

• I can't find the link, but the process that bananas go through as they get shipped here is very interesting. There is a special and very intricate cooling and ripening process with an exact temperature change at the right moment in order to make sure the bananas are the right ripeness when they arrive here.

• The worst thing I've encountered is cowhides. Cowhides are a common export from the USA to China (I imagine there is not a lot of room for cattle there). The reason why they are bad is because of the smell. They are coated with some sort of chemical so they don't get dry, but instead of keeping them in a bag, they just toss them in a container and drench them with this foul liquid that drips out of the box as it gets moved around the yard. Luckily, I've only encountered this a few times.

I'll be happy to answer any questions. I might not like a lot of things about my job (the politics and the schedule), but I am in love with the culture of the port.

Didn't Google use to build mini-data center fitted in the standard size container? Completed with powers, racks, cooling, etc. Ready to drop-ship it to any location in short notice.

>this comment also shows that for some of the work (here loading and packing), the container just moves to the burden to a different entity (here the manufacturer instead of the longshoremen).

But shifting the burden to the manufacturer is clearly advantageous, because, as the post also shows, the manufacturer knows more about their product and how to pack it.

Also, because neither origin or the final destination of the container are the port, there is less loading/unloading of the individual objects. The container is packed and unpacked exactly once, and apart from that only the whole container need be moved