Green Moving Tips | Economical Ways to Move

Green Moving Tips | Economical Ways to Move

Moving is not the most economical event in a person’s life yet we all do it one time or another.  All those boxes and tape are a waste for the environment so here are some ways to use moving pads and bands to alleviate some of the debris discarded after a move and make your move a green one!

Some other things you can do to make your relocation a green move are: recycling moving boxes, hiring green movers, and

Recycling Moving Boxes

If you are a germaphobic, you may not want to use others boxes but if you can live with the possibility of others touching your boxes you can check NextDoor and craigslist for boxes.  NextDoor is a great app if you live in a suburb – you can usually find moving boxes within a few days here.  Big box stores like costco and bjs as well as liquor stores will have used boxes.

When you a finished with your moving boxes you can post them on-line and/or do something useful with them.  I used to let my kids use them to build castles, cars and what have you.  Teens may enjoy using a razor to cut out shapes for crafts.  There are a ton of cardboard craft ideas on pinterest! Some moving companies will pick up boxes at the completion of a move and use them as floor and wall protectors on another move.

Hiring Green Movers

There are a few green movers that you can hire – but finding some near you can pose a difficult challenge.  Monster Movers is a green moving company that uses fuel efficient vehicles, recycled materials, and saves over 50% of paper waste by using electronic copies of estimates, bills and inventory.  They are members of the sustainable business network and here are there green initiatives:

  • Reduce and reuse our moving boxes whenever possible
  • Offer complimentary retrieval of used moving boxes and packing supplies
  • Resell used boxes at discounted prices
  • Collect all non reusable moving boxes, which are then compacted and sent to a recycling center
  • Recycle anywhere between 20,000 – 30,000 pounds of materials each year
  • Provide moving boxes that are manufactured from 90% post-consumer recycled materials
  • Use only biodegradable foam peanuts
  • Use bubble wrap that is oxo-biodegradable, degrading into only water, carbon dioxide and less than 1% natural biomass
  • Source the production of our moving boxes and packing materials from companies that participate in Sustainable Forestry Initiative programs
  • Use FSC certified products for external marketing materials
  • Member of the Sustainable Business Association

Make sure you do research to make sure you are actually hiring a real green moving company and not just a company called green movers that doesn’t use sustainable practices.

Donate Unused Items

Moving is the perfect time to purge and donate unused items to be used by others.  Again, NextDoor is a great app to use where you can post a curb alert letting others know that you have free stuff on your curb that they can take.