Tuesday, August 19, 2008

How we get "stuff"...

I had a chance to really look at a container ship while we were docked in Seattle waiting to disembark our cruise ship. 

This ginormous container ship was being unloaded and loaded at the same time. When one stack of containers is removed, another stack of containers replaces it (one at a time). The crane moves and the process continues.

The stacks of containers go down into the hold of the ship. Each container is packed full. Just imagine all the stuff that this one ship carries! Multiply that by all the container ships that are out there. I find it to be both amazing and scary. 

I live in the middle of the country and a very large part of what I consume comes to me in containers, via truck. As energy gets more expensive this stream of goods is bound to be effected. I can't help but wonder how that is going to change all of our lives. It's not hard to imagine buying less of the stuff I don't really need. It's harder to imagine having trouble finding things (like food and fabric) that I really do need.

3 comments:

Yvette said...

Hey! I work at the port in Long Beach, CA and my job is unloading/re-loading those ships. I'll bet you never figured there were longshoreman/quilters.

Great picture!

Becky said...

You know, I did wonder about the people doing the work but mostly I was thinking "please, please do not walk underneath those huge heavy things." It's the mother in me that comes out whether I want it to or not.

And you are correct... I would not have guessed there were longshorman/quilters! But then, why not? Quilters are everywhere!

Alex Peter said...

Thanks a lot for sharing your research with us. It's really amazing that imported goods travel a long way to reach us. Bulky container ships and trucks bring our daily use stuff.
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