From Hiring Movers To Reusing Boxes: The Dos And Don'ts Of An Eco-Friendly Move
Posted on: 20 March 2023
How can you make your next move more eco-friendly? From hiring movers to the best packing ideas for the planet, take a look at the dos and don'ts of an environmentally conscious move.
Do Hire A Moving Company
What does a moving contractor have to do with a planet-friendly move? If you don't have the right vehicle for the job, you could have to make multiple trips in your car, SUV, or minivan to move everything from point A to point B. The more you drive, the more greenhouse gas emissions you create. While one car won't destroy the environment, over time the carbon dioxide your gas-fueled car creates causes air pollution that can eventually add to global warming.
Even though a moving truck or van can create pollution, the single trip it makes to your new home can produce fewer emissions than the two, three, four, or more drives you will need to move everything you own.
Don't Buy New Boxes and Bins
Instead of buying new moving containers, reuse what you already have. In 2018, corrugated boxes topped 33.3 million tons, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA also notes that in the same year, Americans generated an estimated 14.5 million tons of plastic containers.
Old appliance boxes, the original cardboard packaging that electronics and other household goods came in, larger toy bins/boxes, luggage, tote bags, and even dresser drawers are easy to turn into eco-friendly upcycled packing materials for your next move.
Do Save the Boxes
Whether you have plans to move when your next lease ends, your current housing situation is only temporary, you have plans to declutter and take some of your belongings to a storage facility, or you might move again at some point in the future, you will need packing containers. Before you throw away the upcycle cardboard boxes you just used to move, think about what you can do with them.
Flatten the cardboard and save the boxes for another move. If you don't move, you can still reuse the cardboard. Get creative and come up with ways to upcyle these items and keep them out of a landfill. Transform the moving containers into thick paper stock for your child's art projects, use it to line the floors when you paint your new home, or keep it in the basement, attic, or crawl space to use as an at-home storage container.
Call a local moving company for more ideas.
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