Are you planning to move? Check out this guide for moving your house in a sustainable manner with guidelines for moving in a eco-friendly way.
What’s the first thought that comes to mind when I were to talk about the possibility of moving? If you answered stress, I’d like to hug you. This is because the anxiety of moving house is typically the first thought that comes to mind when considering any possible house relocation.
In my adulthood I’ve moved houses seventeen occasions (17!) So I am very well-versed in the stresses of house-moving. Our most recent move was by far the most stressful house move to the present. The house we purchased was listed on the market right up to the time that we received the keys. We received the keys only at 4:40 pm the day we moved. We were forced to move our belongings away while the owner of our house had moved in their belongings! It’s no surprise that I’m not planning on moving for a while!
In addition to stress What else that comes into your mind when you think of moving? The first thought or second may not be the environmental impact of moving. However, there are some eco-friendly aspects to take into consideration when you next relocate your house.
How to Move House The Eco-friendly Method
Here are some of my tried-and-trusted suggestions to help you move your house in a sustainable way.
De-clutter before packing
If I were to offer anyone any tips for eco-friendly moving or suggestions, it would be to always to clear your home of clutter before you begin to think about packing your things. Deleting things that you don’t want will require less boxes and packaging materials. This could also mean that you require the use of a smaller removals truck which will save you a lot of carbon emissions and money.
Sorting out the wheat from the chaff helps in packing and unpacking much simpler. I’ve noticed that when I follow this method, I don’t find that unopened, rogue container of junk left over that can take, um, an entire year to open and removing.
Expert in decluttering Marie Kondo measures decluttering success by the number of bins that are empty and then thrown away. I have a different method. I have a lot of issues about Marie Kondo, which I could go on about for hours. However, in the interest of keeping it short and to the main point, the only thing I’ll be saying is that there’s many wasteful aspects to this method of organizing.
Decluttering isn’t just a matter of throwing everything into the trash that you do not require. The earlier years (pre-Marie Kondo) I wrote a lot about ways to reduce clutter sustainably. When you are ready to grab an empty bin bag, I’d suggest reading it. I provide suggestions on how to do with unwanted items to keep them out of the landfill and active for a longer time. If you’ve used up or damaged objects, I provide suggestions on how you can safely dispose of the items when they have reached the end of their useful life.
Cardboard Boxes
After you’ve cleared out your home Once you’ve cleared out your home, it’s time to move on to packing. The cardboard boxes are a green aspect to take into consideration when moving home in a sustainable manner.
Many removal companies provide their own new packaging and boxes materials for an additional charge to you. There is also the option of purchasing boxes and packing materials on the internet. Although you can reuse cardboard boxes following your move I’ve always believed that it’s an encroachment of resources and money to purchase new cardboard for the purpose of moving things from one place to another.
To help save resources (and to earn a little money) in the past , I have always maintained a positive connection with the local stores. Many shops will not store cardboard boxes due to being a fire hazard. However, what you could ask staff what the day of delivery will be. Then, you can visit that day to pick up a few cardboard boxes, before they are delivered to recycling.
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After speaking with the manager of the local shop I learned that the delivery day was Wednesday afternoon. This meant that every Wednesday night for the next few weeks, I went to the shop and picked up the most boxes I could. This helped us avoid buying tons of new cardboard, and also provided cardboard to be recycled the chance to be recycled. Win-win!
Innovative Packaging Options for Moving House
You can also get creative with the objects you have in your home by using suitcases instead of boxes. Contact your family and friends to lend you one suitcases to help with your home move.
Laundry bags can also be an ideal option to replace boxes. It is possible to take a lot of clothes into them, and they are far more portable than boxes.
Environmentally friendly packaging materials
Naturally, you won’t be able to move your possessions using cardboard boxes by themselves. Things that are fragile need some sort of protection against bumps and smacks in the process of moving. While the majority of packaging materials are made of plastic but there are alternatives that are green in the process of moving houses.
When I am planning a move, I ask to as many of my friends as I can to save their old papers for us. This helps us avoid the expense of buying packaging papers. I also make it a habit to save any packaging paper and bubble wrap which is brought into our home prior the major relocation. I also encourage my coworkers to keep all bubble wraps that is brought in with deliveries to ensure that it can be reused.
If your workplace doesn’t receive many deliveries, or you’re not working, then an alternative to consider is Freecycle. Based on what I’ve learned in my many years of using Freecycle is that the items that are not in use but could be useful to someone else, then the Freecycler will put it up on Freecycle. I’ve seen some odd items pop up on Freecycle during my time. So, I can tell that you will see someone give you a bunch of bubble wrap , or even a large package of packaging papers that they’ve amassed and want to get rid of.
If Freecycle does not have the items alternative places to consider are Gumtree or Facebook marketplace.
If you’d prefer to avoid plastic bubble wrap when moving your home, there are alternative options that are green for bubble wrap. There are corrugated boxes that range from “bubble” packaging peanuts to wraps constructed from corn starch which can be dissolving in water or put into your composter. There are many clever alternatives available online if willing to shell out the money.
Of course, the alternative to a greener option is to utilize clean towels, clean clothes and sheets to wrap breakables. It’s a great method to reduce space as well!
Packaging made of plastic-free Tape
If you are looking for tape to seal your boxes an alternative to the standard packaging tape made from plastic is packaging tape made of paper*. This tape is made of completely recycled papers with a latex-based glue that is biodegradable.