Airbnb, eco-tourism, hipster cred, and shipping containers: What they all have in common

Jeff Ostrowski at the Post has this interesting article about retired shipping containers getting re-purposed. These containers, if you didn't know, are those large containers that get placed on tractor trailers and trains for distribution of commodities, products, etc. throughout the country. You'll also see these containers used by companies for storage, temporary and permanent, on back lots and work sites.

As you'll read in the article three of these containers were purchased (for $3,000 each) and made into an Airbnb rental, an amazingly creative idea. But before you get all excited check the zoning code first before diving ahead. More likely than not this type of structure is prohibited where you live. For instance, you couldn't build this in Lake Worth or most other cities in the county. 

Here is an excerpt from the article:

In a feat he calls a first for Palm Beach County, Jupiter entrepreneur Rick Clegg has built a house from old shipping containers.
     The utilitarian structure in Jupiter Farms [see the rental unit on Airbnb], located just across the Loxahatchee River from Riverbend Park, is a vacation rental for ecotourists.
     Containers, a symbol of consumer culture and global trade, have gained hipster cred [defined below] as an alternative building material.
     “I like the compactness, the low carbon footprint, the simplicity of it,” Clegg said.

Read more about Rick Clegg and see more pictures of his Retreat On The Loxahatchee River. Unsure what a "hipster" is? I do my best to define that term here.