You may be moving from one home to another, but there’s one place we all call home, and that’s planet Earth. Moving can be strenuous, which means the sustainability that’s so important to all of us can occasionally fall to the wayside, but there are so many simple things you can do to make your move eco-friendly—some may even make it cheaper and easier for you too!
Elite strives to protect your belongings and the planet, so here are a few eco-friendly moving tips to get you started.
Think inside the box
Cardboard boxes, the most common packing material, are simple and recyclable, but the materials often used inside those boxes, such as plastic or foam to wrap and protect your items, are not so easily disposed of. That makes how you pack the inside of your boxes incredibly important if you’re trying to decrease pollution and waste.
If you need additional packing materials, start with newspaper, which you can throw in your standard recycling bin.
And if you do end up needing to use plastic packing materials, that’s still fine! Just use a site like Recycle Finder to figure out exactly where you can drop them off once you’re done with them.
Give a Box Back
If you end up with too many boxes, don’t just get rid of them. A great alternative to recycling your boxes or discarding them is the “Take a Box Leave a Box” program. All U-Haul company stores (and many dealers) offer this option so that customers can drop off their used boxes.
Of course, in an ideal world you’d have the perfect number of boxes, and Elite can help with that. Our boxes, available on our website shop, can be purchased specifically for the number of rooms you’re looking to pack, so if you have no idea how many boxes you need, Elite is a great place to start.
Food For Thought: Save the Kitchen for Last
The kitchen is often one of the most cluttered rooms in the house, so it makes sense that many movers try to get it out of the way right at the beginning. However, once it’s all packed up, it makes it difficult not only to cook, but to eat without having to rely on plastic ware. Using disposable materials—even if it’s just for a few days—piles up quickly, and because plastic forks, knives and spoons are not biodegradable, it can really start to expand you and your family’s carbon footprint. Instead, consider leaving just enough utensils and dishware for the last leg of your move, then pack those up at the very last minute. You can even use a camping kit with easily packable but still very sustainable silverware as an alternative to traditional dishware for those last few days.
As your kitchen gets packed and the move gets closer—not to mention as you and your family get more exhausted—takeout meals may also become increasingly common. No shame in that. However, to minimize your waste from takeout containers, you can ask the restaurants you order from to leave out the plastic forks and straws. Dining out in person can also be a good option, especially if you live close enough to walk, or if you have specific eateries you want to take advantage of before you move away. Walking to a restaurant for a nice bite to eat not only means no plastic takeout containers, but is also a great way to get some exercise, relax, and spend quality time with the people you love.
Donate what you don’t need
A move presents a perfect opportunity for getting rid of the things you no longer use and sending them on to a better purpose. When deciding what to donate, sell, recycle, and throw out, try to make your trash pile as small as possible—full of only items that you really, truly can’t do anything else with.
Minimizing your possessions is good for the environment, saves you time, and will help your sanity when packing and unpacking gets exhausting. What’s the point of moving things you don’t even want? By donating or selling your lightly used possessions before moving, you can decrease the amount of packing materials, the number of trips you or your mover will have to take, and the amount of time you’ll spend driving yourself crazy with the moving process.
Second hand shops like Goodwill take a wide variety of items, and even do pickup for unwieldy pieces like furniture or heavy appliances. Local organizations like schools, libraries, shelters, and recreation centers also sometimes take donations—a great goodbye gift to your community before you leave to your new home.
You can also sell your possessions either with a yard sale or online with sites like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist. That could be a way to cover a little bit of the moving costs, or just give you a little extra cash to buy yourself a nice housewarming gift once the chaos of moving is all behind you.
Take Fewer Back & Forth Trips—That’s where Elite comes in!
Try to make the fewest amount of trips possible with your move. Saving gas on trips is one way hiring movers like Elite Moving and Storage can help make your move all that much better. Rather than doing it all yourself, relieve yourself of the stress by letting Elite do the work for you. With over 15 years of experience in the field and 3000+ moving jobs per year, Elite’s moving experts will know the best way to make your moving experience the best it can be for you, your family, and your environment. Visit elitemover.com for a free quote today.