5 Ways to Make Your Move Eco-Friendly: Green Moving Tips

There is no doubt that you’ll have plenty of things on your mind when organizing a house move – from wondering where to find the best movers to what to pack first when moving.

Hopefully, you’ll also think about how to make your move eco-friendly as well.

Going green when moving house is praiseworthy, especially since many people and many moving companies don’t really seem to care about the environment. Make an effort to reduce your environmental footprint during the move and your exemplary contribution should make a difference in the end.

How to plan an eco-friendly move? Here are the top 5 tips for an eco-friendly move.

1. Hire an eco-friendly moving company

One of the best ways to make your next move eco-friendly is to hire a moving company that does seem to care about the environment.

It’s not difficult to see that some movers prioritize environmentally-friendly practices while others just don’t care about their environmental impact and do things the old-fashioned way. Therefore, to make your upcoming move more sustainable, look for a professional moving company that is truly committed to green moving practices.

One good way to find an eco-conscious mover is to ask the moving companies you’re reviewing about what specific measures they take to minimize their impact on the environment. Look for meaningful answers, don’t be quick to trust vague responses such as, “Yes, we do care about the environment.”

If a mover does offer green moving services, then they won’t mind explaining to you in great detail exactly what they do to preserve the environment.

To be able to judge whether a moving company is a green one or just pretending to be such in order to be trendy, here’s what the best eco moving companies do to offer more sustainable moving services to their customers:

• They use biodiesel in their moving trucks;
• They invest in modern moving vehicles that are fuel-efficient and emit less harmful gases in the atmosphere;
• They offer professional packing services with eco-friendly packing materials – from recycled cardboard boxes to biodegradable bubble wrap;
• They consolidate shipments, whenever possible, to make fewer trips while offering more affordable green moving services;
• They offer to buy back any packing materials that their customers have not used.

Get free moving quotes as the first step in finding the best eco-friendly movers in your area.

2. Gift, donate, or sell any unwanted stuff to help nature

In order to organize an eco-friendly move, one of your top-priority tasks is to declutter your home and move with you only the things that you do intend to use in the future.

Now, you may be wondering how purging your home of items that you no longer need will make your move any greener. Well, here’s the secret: you will not just throw away irresponsibly the things you’ve decided to leave – on the contrary, you will make an effort to keep unwanted stuff from landfills by selling, gifting, or donating many of your still usable things to other people.

And, whenever that’s impossible, you will recycle your stuff in an environmentally-friendly manner too. That’s right, show that you care about the environment by never discarding unwanted items right on the curb or dumping them in the garbage containers without any thoughts about proper recycling.

GIFT to good friends or family members the lightly-used items that you’re not taking with you. This way, you’ll show that you care both for your dear pals and the environment. And if you happen to know that anyone you care about has had their eye on something you own, then things become even easier for you.

DONATE still usable items – furniture, appliances, electronic devices, clothes, shoes, books, toys, canned food, etc. – to various charitable organizations. Some of the charities you contact may even offer to come to your home and pick up the donated items directly from you.

SELL the things you’re not moving with you, or at least try. The money you pocket from the online sale or the garage sale will go toward your moving budget and will NOT go to a local landfill, which under the circumstances, is a true win-win situation for you.

And if some of your things are only good enough to be thrown away, make sure you contact your nearest recycle center and recycle those soon-to-be discarded items in an environmentally friendly way.

How to get rid of stuff before moving

3. Dispose of hazardous goods in an eco-friendly way

When moving house, the worst thing you can do from an environmental point of view is to discard improperly of substances and materials that are harmful to the environment. Remember that moving companies will not move any hazardous items for you, so the only good option for you is to dispose of such dangerous goods in an eco-friendly manner.

Materials that can be bad for the environment include are flammable, corrosive, or explosive in nature, and include acids, gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, motor oil, engine oil, pesticides, fertilizers, weed killers, paint, paint thinners, and so on. You should be careful how you dispose of any chemicals, including most of the cleaning supplies you have in your home.

Make your move eco-friendly by not irresponsibly discarding materials that can harm the environment in any way. You should even be careful how you dispose of any old batteries – never just throw them in the garbage bin but keep them in a small box and then leave them at a recycling center or a recycling point.

Stay environmentally-conscious throughout your move by following strictly the disposal instructions on hazardous items. Also, before you move away, consider giving away to neighbors and friends any goods that are forbidden to be transported by moving companies.

If you find yourself unsure what to do with seemingly dangerous items before Moving day, then get in touch with your local office of the Environmental Protection Agency for advice.

What NOT to pack when moving: Items forbidden for transport

4. Pack your things using only eco-friendly packing materials

How to organize an eco-friendly move? It’s easier than you think – just focus on using nothing but eco-friendly moving supplies. What that means in practice is that you’re encouraged to get only recyclable and biodegradable packing materials to pack up your things.

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  Plastic is an enemy to the environment… but plastic bins made from recycled plastic can be used for moving hundreds of times.

  Cardboard boxes. Instead of purchasing all your moving boxes brand new, do consider using second-hand cardboard containers as long as they are in good condition. Under normal circumstances, standard cardboard boxes can last up to 4-5 moves before ending up in a recycling center. Here you can find where to find free moving boxes in excellent condition.

• Plastic bins. Plastic is bad for the environment but here’s the deal – plastic bins that are made of recycled plastic can be used and reused up to 400 times, so using plastic moving containers will prove to be an eco-friendly investment for years to come.
• Eco-friendly bubble wrap. Standard plastic bubble wrap is not the most eco-friendly packing material out there, so to make your move green, use only Enviro-Bubble that’s made from recycled polyethylene and is 100% recyclable and reusable.
• Eco-friendly packing peanuts. If you must use packing peanuts to provide extra protection for your fragile items, then make sure you get the type that’s 100% biodegradable – that is, it’s made from vegetable oil and cornstarch.

If you decide to purchase most of your moving boxes brand-new, then remember to get eco-friendly moving boxes made from recycled cardboard.

Also, another eco-friendly option to keep your move as green as possible is to use packing containers and padding materials that you already have in your home but never knew you did. That great idea will also help you lower your packing and moving expenses simply because you won’t need to purchase as many packing supplies as you estimated in the beginning.

• Alternative moving containers. Make good use of all containers in your home that you’re taking with you anyway: baskets, buckets, trash cans, suitcases, trash bags, vacuum seal bags, Ziploc bags, etc.
• Alternative wrapping and padding supplies. Limit the usage of bubble wrap and use a number of great alternative wrapping and padding materials such as blankets, towels, bed sheets, and even socks. Also, newspapers are great space fillers inside cardboard boxes but you should be careful not to let delicate surfaces get stained by the newspaper ink.

Packing Checklist: Packing Timeline For Moving

5. Stay green after the move as well

You’ve proven that you care about the environment: you’ve hired the services of a green moving company, you’ve kept unwanted items away from the landfill by selling, gifting, or donating most of them, you’ve disposed of dangerous materials in an eco-friendly way, and you’ve used only eco-friendly packing supplies to protect your items on the road.

You deserve praise for planning an eco-friendly move to your new home but your efforts to minimize your ecological impact shouldn’t stop after the move.

Here’s what you can do after the move in order to continue to be an ecologically conscious person:

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  Stay eco-conscious after the move as well.

  Keep the sturdiest cardboard boxes for your next move;

• Use the plastic bin as storage containers, perfectly ready to serve you again when the time comes;
• Give away still usable packing materials that to people who happen to be planning their own green moves;
• Recycle the packing supplies that can’t be re-used for a house move anymore;
• Consider cleaning the new place with eco-friendly cleaning supplies, like mixing white vinegar and water to clean hardwood floor surfaces and bathroom tiles. Baking soda will help you get rid of possible dirt around the kitchen kink;
• Install LED light fixtures in the home to conserve energy;
• Unplug electric appliances when they are not in use because some will still consumer electric energy in standby mode.

Hopefully, planning an eco-friendly move will be only the beginning and you will be willing to lead a greener and more sustainable lifestyle in the destination town or city.

What to do with moving boxes after moving