The Everything Blog

Shipping containers are finding new life in a variety of ways. At the end of their life at sea, these standard sized boxes are offering the durability, strength and cost-saving opportunity for all sorts of innovative uses. Take a look at some of the many options!

• Storage Sheds – Shipping containers provide a much sturdier solution to a backyard shed than wood. There’s no wood rot or mold to worry about and no assembly or maintenance required. The security is exceptional and weather isn’t a problem inside or outside. Shipping containers are weather proof and able to withstand rain, snow, heat, high winds and temperature fluctuation. From standard storage sheds to a workshop, home office, playhouse or whatever you need, shipping containers offer a usable outdoor space. 
• Swimming Pool – Believe it or not, shipping containers are an excellent option for setting up a swimming pool in your backyard. They offer a quick and easy alternative because there’s no need to dig or get permission and very little work involved. The containers are available in 20ft and 40ft sizes and can be simply dropped into place. There are companies who offer containers that are lined and include filters, heat pumps, underwater lights and ladders. You fill with water and start enjoying your affordable shipping container swimming pool.
• Housing – For quite a few years, architects have been successfully converting shipping containers into clever housing. They’ve used these standardized shapes to create some ingenious housing solutions. Shipping containers have gained popularity as a means to solve student housing at universities worldwide. They provide homeless shelters and an affordable solution for new homeowners. Despite the limited sizes available, shipping containers allow for creativity and expression in design. 
• Pop-Up Shops, Bars & Cafes – The shape, size and durability of shipping containers offers the ideal solution for pop-up shops, bars or cafes. The container can be completely transformed, becoming nearly unrecognizable and yet retaining the benefits of strength, security and resistance to weather. They provide an affordable means of opening temporary locations without major investment and testing and expanding awareness of a brand. Because shipping containers are constructed to be transported, moving the storefront from one location to another is an easy process.  

For the past five years, I have been working in a large Metropolitan Community Hospital. Two years ago, I was promoted to the director of health and human services. I received a huge raise and I get to drive a company car. Things have always been busy and hectic, but now we are dealing with a huge amount of problems. The hospital is starting to look like the triage in a war zone and everyone is scared to come inside for help. We don’t have enough staff like nurses, doctors, and patient technicians. We don’t have a lot of supplies like gloves, masks, hand sanitizer, and ventilators. Luckily, we have a wonderful housekeeping staff that has been working overtime since the coronavirus started. We used to have housekeepers work during the day, with a few staff members working the evening shift. Ever since the beginning of April, we have had janitorial staff on service twenty-four hours a day and 7 days each week. We had to hire two hundred additional housekeepers to fill all of the needs. The staff works three shifts around the clock, and we are fully staffed at all times. All of the surfaces around the hospital are being wiped down with bleach and sanitizer three times every day. The rooms for our patients are being disinfected regularly and everyone testing positive for Covid-19 is in isolation away from the rest of the hospital. There are a ton of people walking in and out of the hospital doors, but we are doing our best to keep the place clean and free of germs.

Standard shipping containers are a common sight and widely used across quite a few industries. It seems as if they’ve always been around to transport products. Access to a container with standardized dimensions is invaluable for loading, unloading and transporting good effectively and efficiently all different means of transport. However, this invention can be traced back to a single person. Prior to shipping containers, freight was maneuvered manually as bulk cargo. Goods were processed through a series of pick-ups and loads as they moved from factory to vessel and vessel to warehouse and onward. These steps involved a great deal of handling, time and delays. It was costly and not dependable. Shipping containers first appeared at the end of the 18th century for combined rail and horse-drawn transport in Britain. By the 1830’s, containers were widely used by the railroads and were suitable for other modes of transport. The US Army used small versions of today’s containers during WWII to speed up distribution of supplies. Malcolm McLean invented and patented the first standardized shipping container in 1956. He owned the largest trucking company in the United States at that time. He had the ingenuous ideal of improving intermodal transportation. He’d spent years dealing with loading and unloading cargo in different sized wooden cases. He noticed the labor-intensive process of dock workers unloading freight from trucks and moving it to ships. He recognized that both his trucking company and shipping companies would benefit from a standardized process of cargo transfer. He purchased Pan Atlantic Tanker Company and the associated shipping assets. He began tinkering with improved ways to load and unload trucks. He eventually developed what is now recognized as a shipping container. 

T-shirt manufacturers and screen printers are increasingly turning to the heat transfer process. The designs are ideal for small orders and on-site printing. It allows for a variety of sizes and colors of shirt and provides a high profit margin without the risk of an overstock of printed shirts. You’re not going to get stuck storing hundreds of T-shirts and hoping to sell them. You can print t-shirts on-demand with a heat transfer printing machine. 

An image is first printed onto transfer paper. The speciality formulated transfer paper is smooth and provides a medium for the ink. The heat press machine transfers the image from the paper to the t-shirt. You can also transfer images onto puzzles, mugs, plates, blankets and more. The high temperature and consistent pressure for a specific amount of time permanently embeds the image.

There is an array of heat transfer paper on the market.  Some are intended for use at home with a conventional iron while others require the use of professional printing machines.  A heat press achieves more professional results. A heat press ensures instant, uniform and steady heat to produce superior appearance and durability. These machines are not outrageously expensive or difficult to operate. With a reasonable investment and a bit of practice, you could become skilled at heat transfer and the possibilities are nearly limitless. At nearly every event you’ll find a vendor who is printing on-demand T-shirts to commemorate the day. You can often customize the garment to suit your tastes. Heat transfer can become a very profitable business.

You’ve devoted ours over the design and completion of a printed project and you couldn’t be happier with the results of your efforts. The colors are vibrant, the font is concise and the included logo is clear. The imagery perfectly reflects your brand and impresses with professionalism. Now you need to decide whether or not to laminate. Lamination applies a clear plastic film to a piece of paper, adhering the layers together. This achieves a very durable and professional finish that holds up longer than it would otherwise. Lamination accommodates much more than standard posters and signs. Business cards, menus and presentation folders can be enhanced and protected from a gloss or matte laminate. The laminate adds durability and increases longevity. 

Some of the many benefits include:

• Protection – Laminate film consists of specific types of plastic, making it very durable. It protects printer materials from marks, spills and tears and can simply be wiped with a cloth without causing further damage. Lamination also combats the harmful consequences of UV rays and extends color intensity of the printed image. It is especially helpful for printed materials that will be outdoors and exposed to weather. 
• Durability – If you’ve ever been finishing up a document and accidentally spilled your coffee on it, you understand the importance of a durable product. Lamination ensures important documents or prints are easier to clean with affecting the print. The material can hold up better to frequent use and rougher treatment. Because they need to be replaced less often, you save money.
• Appearance – Printed materials typically suffering from fading and wear and tear. When documents are displayed for safety purposes in potentially dangerous areas, maintaining legibility is essential. Adding lamination helps the material to last longer with a like-new appearance.