Letters: Fully support the container house

With reference to the article ‘Container house must go’ (Courier, February 10), I am deeply dismayed by the backward-thinking residents of Salt Rock.
According to your article, an open-minded, forward-thinking resident is using his resources and ingenuity to build an innovative, green-friendly home and this has raised the ire of the locals.
Well, to this man who has been harassed by residents and had his property and plans splashed across this paper, I say a big, heartfelt, “Good for you!”
To Max Greenblatt, the man behind this novel construction approach, I say, thank you! Thank you for considering the environment. Thank you for being brave enough to try something different that is beneficial to our community and our world.
To the five residents complaining about this amazing endeavour, I say, “Shame on you!” Shame on you for caring more about shallow aesthetics than the environment. Shame on your for complaining first before finding out what is actually going on. Shame on you for picking on someone who is trying to do something beneficial for the environment. People like you are the reason this world is in trouble – people too busy complaining about others to do any good themselves.
Did you know that there is an over-abundance of containers rusting away, loitering in lots and littering this world? Are you aware that recycling this steel saves an enormous amount of energy? Are you aware that by converting containers into homes you not only solve this problem but also reduce the impact on the environment because less materials are required? But then, you probably aren’t aware of any of the above because you are too busy finding things to moan about to do your own research or think outside the box.
After reading the article I decided to take a drive past this site to see if it was in as bad a state as the objectors had made out and guess what? It’s a construction site, which by nature leaves things looking a bit messy, but besides that, there’s nothing wrong with the site – no litter, no materials strewn all over the place, no overgrown bushes – just some work in progress. In fact, this site is one of the tidiest construction sites I’ve ever seen.
I wish Max Greenblatt all the best with his new home and it is my sincere wish that more home owners would take this environmentally aware approach in the future.
As far as I am concerned Max and his container home are more than welcome in our neighbourhood!

CATHERINE THATE
Salt Rock