Our New Year’s resolution is to stop selling new containers. And what is yours?
As a young startup that aims to lead our industry in sustainability, we hired a sustainable development manager, who started off by analyzing our environmental footprint with the support of a leading consultancy firm. And, to be honest, we were extremely shocked when we learned what the impact of new containers production.
The impact of new shipping containers production
A new 20ft container requires more than 2.000 kg of Corten steel to form its body. The process of making a single 20ft container releases more than 10.000 kg of CO2. To put things into perspective, this is equivalent to the annual CO2 absorption of 500 fully grown trees. Can you imagine taking a chainsaw and cutting them all down?
Let's be clear about one thing, we LOVE containers. Containers are the single most important invention in international trade. They are built in the toughest steel available to withstand the most extreme weather conditions and connect the world. A container that is in the Sahara Desert right now, may travel to the Artic Circle on its next trip, with a stopover in the tropical rainforests of the Amazon. Whatever is inside its structure will be safe from everything outside and the goods will be delivered neatly and intact.
No fewer than 45 million containers are available for use, so let’s use them even better together!
The good news is that there are over than 45 million TEU(*) in the world. That's more than enough. And the reason why we have decided to stop selling new containers and to focus all of our energy on making the best possible use of the existing containers. These containers are a perfect alternative to most forms of usage, and can be used for storage, shipping and much, much more.
It is also our New Year’s resolution to offer you the best alternatives available to new containers. We will repair used containers to different grades so you can rest assured that they are wind and watertight or even certified for exports.
How can you contribute?
We'd like to ask you to make it your New Year's resolution to rethink whether you really need a new container, or whether a used one is a viable alternative. We would love to be the one selling that used container to you, of course, but even if you decided to buy from a competitor, we would welcome this - as long as the used containers that are available will be used for a longer time.
The positive impact of your choice is substantial. With every container you buy used instead of new, we make the world a little better – by 500 trees to be exact.
Your Eveon Team
(*) TEU means twenty-foot equivalent unit, which is a standardized unit of measurement for describing a global container. One 20ft container is 1 TEU, while a 40ft container or a 40ft High Cube container are 2 TEU.