WHAT'S HAPPENING AT GREEN ACRES

15 Awesome Ways to Reuse Shipping Containers

Steel shipping containers outlive their usefulness as cargo carriers within 5 years, and they used to sit abandoned at shipyards for years. Now, they’re gaining increasing recognition for their durability, adaptability, light weight, low cost and ease of stacking, spurring a recycling trend that has resulted in shipping container sculpture, homes, hotels, museums and more. The possibilities are seemingly endless, as illustrated by these 15 amazing examples of cargo container reuse.

Housing

(image via: Ecopods)

(images via: Illy)

(image via: Inhabitat)

(image via: Oop)

The simple, boxy shape of shipping containers makes them perfect for housing, whether creating a small recycled dwelling out of just one container or stacking multiple containers for a larger home or complex of small living spaces.

The Ecopod is a great example of just how easy it can be to transform a shipping container into a compact, modern, energy-efficient home. It’s easy to set up and relocate, has a small footprint and is surprisingly light and airy, with an entire wall made up of sliding glass doors. The Ecopod is perfect for adding an extra bedroom to your home, or for use as an office or art studio.

The Illy Push Button House certainly doesn’t look like much from the outside. You’d pass it without a second thought, if it weren’t for the little Illy flag sticking out. But then, at the push of a button, something amazing happens – the whole thing unfolds into a chic, minimalist living space. It’s a five-room home with a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, living room and library.

London’s ‘Container City’ and the University of Utrecht Student Housing are bright, colorful, cheery examples of large-scale cargo container complexes. Container City relies on component pieces rather than units to create more livable, adaptable spaces while the Utrecht student housing complex takes the 1 container = 1 unit approach.

Hotels

(image via: Treehugger)

(image via: dornob)

Just as they can be artfully stacked and transformed into large housing complexes, shipping containers are perfectly suited for use as hotels. The world’s first shipping container hotel was built in Uxbridge, West London in 2008. The 8-story Travelodge was built from 86 modified shipping containers, and the whole process was said by the company to be 25 percent faster and 10 percent cheaper than conventional hotel buildings.

A particularly ambitious shipping container building project isn’t yet a reality, but the concept looks incredible. Morris Architects wants to turn abandoned oil rigs into ocean resorts, with the humble cargo container as a central building block to the designs. 4,000 soon-to-be deserted oil rigs would be converted in all, creating 80,000,000 square feet of living space out in the Gulf of Mexico.

Offices & Retail Buildings

(image via: The New York Times)

(image via: Inhabitat)

(image via: Share Architecture)

It’s almost two times as large as the Mall of America, but comparisons end there. A giant makeshift mall just outside of Odessa, Ukraine is a sprawling complex of decaying shipping containers that have been stacked no higher than two stories, with narrow ladders offering the only way to get to the shops on top. Known as the Seventh Kilometer Market, this complex is an example of shipping containers used simply because they were available, not for design or recycling purposes.

In stark contrast are the Stuttgart shipping container skyscraper concept and the PUMA shipping container store, two modern examples of old cargo containers upcycled into buildings that are both functional and beautiful. German designer Lars Behrendt conceived of the skyscraper, made of 55 stacked containers, for use in a roundabout while the PUMA CITY retail structure is fully dismountable and travels around the world on a cargo ship.

Museums

(images via: NYC Architecture)

(image via: ContainerArt.org)

When illuminated at night, it looks like a gigantic church. The long hallways of the Nomadic Museum aren’t surrounded by stained glass and stone, however – the walls are made from, you guessed it, shipping containers. The 45,000 square foot complex is a temporary structure that is regularly disassembled so that its fine art contents can be seen around the world.

The Container Art Project is another example of shipping containers enabling museum curators to take their shows on the road. In this case, the containers aren’t just used to display sculpture, paintings and photography – they’re also the setting for interactive performance art.

Art

(image via: Bellostes)

(image via: kamoda)

You can slap a door on a used shipping container and call it a house or an office, but it takes a tiny bit more creativity to transform it into art. These two shipping container sculptures show just how versatile this corrugated metal really is. The first sculpture, created by a team of artists in Rotterdam, disassembled, folded and twisted pieces of a shipping container into a modern art sculpture. The second example shows a piece of public art made from precariously stacked shipping containers in Yamashita Park, Yokohama, Japan.

Children’s Centers

(image via: In Design Live)

(image via: arcspace)

Four large shipping containers give kids in Melbourne, Australia a fun place to play. The containers have been designed to create an activity center made entirely of durable, recycled and environmentally friendly materials.

The Fawood Children’s Center in London features a bright, modern metal mesh exterior that encapsulates a stacked group of recycled shipping containers used as a nursery. Three groups of three-story shipping containers are joined together by walkways, projecting balconies and staircases.

THE WEEK THAT WAS IN PICTURES

Egyptian men watch US President Barack Obama's key Middle East speech on TV in a coffee shop in Cairo's Islamic old city. In his speech, President Obama called for a 'new beginning between the United States and Muslims', declaring that 'this cycle of suspicion and discord must end'

A Brazilian couple, relatives of a passenger onboard ill-fated Air France flight AF447, leave a hotel after being informed about the accident in Rio de Janiero

School children play wounded as part at a Home Front Command national exercise in a school on June 02, 2009 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The exercise is intended to raise the public's preparedness for possible missile attacks on the country. The five day long drill, code-named Turning Point 3, is being run by the Home Front Command and the National Emergency Authority. It is the largest emergency exercise the nation has undertaken and for the first time all Israeli civilians will simultaneously practice taking cover when air-raid sirens go off

Actors dressed as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker have a lightsaber battle during a preview to the 'Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination' exhibition at Scienceworks on June 2, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. The exhibition is the first to showcase over 80 costumes and props from all six Star Wars movies.

Thousands of volunteers taking part in Spencer Tunick's nude photo shoot at Poolbeg in Dublin last summer. The American artist has now released the pictures on the internet.

A participant attends the Wave Gothic Festival in Leipzig, Germany.

Participants attend the Wave Gothic Festival in Leipzig, Germany.

A participant attends the Wave Gothic Festival in Leipzig, Germany.

A participant attends the Wave Gothic Festival in Leipzig, Germany.

Participants attend the Wave Gothic Festival in Leipzig, Germany. This is a four day event with dozens of musical acts playin

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT GREEN ACRES

The 10 Most Insidious & Destructive Pollutants

Pollution is often discussed in a general sense, as if it were an abstraction rather than a real and serious problem. This allows people to brush pollution off as something too remote from their own lives to care about.  So let’s get specific. When politicians and activists agitate to stop “pollution”, what, exactly, are they referring to? Here are 10 of the most insidious and destructive pollutants on earth, captured in action!

Untreated sewage

(Images via Bluepeace, Flickr)

As many know, “sewage” is a catch-all term used to describe all manner of human refuse, from waste (feces), used laundry water, decomposed food and the like. The existence of at least some sewage is an unavoidable fact of life. Unfortunately, a problem arises when sewage goes untreated, as it often does in underdeveloped countries and in some cases, developed ones too! Allowed to continue, this can lead to such a horrid reduction in a water body’s oxygen that it can no longer sustain life!

Groundwater  contamination

(Images via FilterWater, Michigan Tech)

According to the EPA, 40% of the US population relies on groundwater (water located beneath the ground in soil pores) for such basic, taken-for-granted things as drinking, cleaning, bathing, and cooking. Sadly, everything from pesticides to chemical solvents to human waste can seep into this vital source of water, spoiling it as it flows from one region to the next and growing all the more polluted along the way. Since roughly 6% of the earth’s water is drinkable (and most of that consists of groundwater), it’s no wonder groundwater contamination is such a hot button environmental issue!

Indoor air pollution

(Image via Go Natural Baby)

Perhaps this picture overstates the point, but indoor air pollution is quickly becoming a serious concern. An eye-opening (and sinus-triggering)Arizona Star Daily investigation uncovered some horrifying facts about in-home pollutants, such as that Arizona is one of the riskiest states in the country for toxic mold (even though mold comes from water) and that common household chemicals have been linked to cancer.

Metal plants

(Image via SaveProgress, SX Kinetics)

There’s no denying the need for metal processing plants in a modern economy. But there are major dangers associated with them: namely the airborne pollutants they spew out, which all too often contaminate growing crops and find their way into waterways.

Urban air pollution

(Images via IDRC, SolcomHouse)

Urban air pollution (often referred to as “smog”) can be broken down into two main  categories: primary pollutants from such sources as power plants and car engines, and secondary pollutants, which are basically the adverse reactions of primary pollutants with oxygen and other things present in the air.  Needless to say, both kinds take a punishing toll on urban areas where the pollutants are present in high concentrations, creating air that is difficult to breathe and extremely unpleasant.

Industrial mining

(Image via Channel 6)

The main danger with industrial mining (pictured above) lies in how all the blown-up chunks of earth and debris are disposed of. This residue often contains significant traces of the chemicals used in mining, which are toxic and harmful. According to ScienceDaily, a 2008 study uncovered a correlation between coal mining and increased risk of lung and cardiovascular disease in Virginia, which is becoming more and more common in mining areas.

Lead/acid battery pollution

(Images via Scientific American, Stephen Leahy)

Lead acid batteries (more commonly known as “car batteries”) have always posed a threat to the environment. Much research has been done on this, and according to Scientific American, studies have revealed a 4-7 point drop in intelligence (as measured by IQ tests) with every 10 microgram per decimeter rise in lead in a contaminated area.

Gold mining

(Images via OXFAM, Friends of the Earth)

Gold mining often comes at a high price to the surrounding environment, as the GrinningPlanet.com article “All That Glitters is Not Gold; It May be Cyanide” explains. The title refers to the cyanide-based extraction process often used to leach gold out of ore - a process which unfortunately allows the cyanide to seep into nearby ground and water supplies.

Radioactive waste

(Images via Green Peace)

Radioactive waste is one of the most delicate threats to the environment, as it cannot be “treated” in the way other pollutants can. Rather, the only way to minimize harm from radioactive waste is to safely contain it until it has reached the end of its decay. Whether the waste is high-level(spent fuel from nuclear reactors) or low-level (medical materials) the importance of containing it cannot be overstated. Failure to do so can result in a whole range of consequences, including genetic modification, mental retardation, impairment of cellular growth and even death!

Contaminated surface water

(Image via ABC7)

As if contaminated ground water was not enough, there is a great deal of concern about contaminated surface water. A recent example is July 2007, when the carcinogen Benzene was found in nearby water at a concentration of 600 parts per billion. Allowed to continue, contaminated surface water has the potential to poison the water we all rely on for drinking, bathing, and cooking.

THE WEEK THAT WAS IN PICTURES

A German veterinarian gives a pedicure to Boy, a 39 year-old Asian elephant, who was sedated before the cosmetic work at Kiev Zoo9. A delegation of German veterinarians arrived from Munich Zoo to help their Ukrainian colleagues perform the complex pedicure. 

The central section of the 'La Democracia' bridge over the Ulua river, built by the French in 1963, collapsed after an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the richter scale hit Honduras

The hearse carrying the remains of former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun moves through crowds of people during his state funeral in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: Chung Sung-Jun

Pakistani policemen detain a suspect following a suicide car bomb attack on the police emergency response office building in Lahore. Twenty-three people were killed and around 250 injured in the attack

A light art work by artist and musician Brian Eno is projected onto the Sydney Opera House during the opening night of the Smart Light Sydney Festival. The Smart Light Sydney Festival is a Vivid Sydney initiative that aims to bring colour and light to Sydney during Winter

Callum Francis performing on stage of Britain's got Talent 

Messi (L) of Barcelona celebrates after scoring with Thierry Henry