Using Green Moving Boxes: Recycling, Reusing and Dumpster Diving

If you are moving, now is the time to make a positive change in your life.  Moving is a great chance to alter old habits into new greener ones. Just in the Untied States, 40 million people move every single year, so you can imagine the gathered damage we can do in the long term if we do not take small steps to try to make our moving greener. One very easy way to make moving greener is by investing in green moving boxes.

Moving boxes are a very important part of every move, and incidentally the costs can be expensive. Especially for some of green options (and non-green options for that matter). For that reason, I have included different green options that will work for any budget.

Rent a Green Box

Price Range: $100 to $250 

Renting reusable boxes has become a popular green option for moving. The link about is to a location in California, but there are locations all over the United States. If you wish to find one in your area, just Google "rent green boxes for moving in (your area)". Plenty of results will come up. 

The green boxes are usually offered in three different sizes. The boxes are delivered right to your home, and when you are done using them they pick up the boxes as well.

Between each move the boxes are cleaned, so you don't have to worry about receiving gross used boxes. These boxes are used around 400 times before they are recycled, so they are more durable then any cardboard option. 

Most Green Boxes You Rent Will Look Something Like the Picture Above

Buy Used Cardboard Boxes

Price Range: $38 for single room 

There are many companies that sell used cardboard boxes, and the hardest part can be choosing one. You can search through different sites to find the best price, but I have found this company is the best site to buy boxes.

The process of buying used cardboard boxes is pretty simple. When you order the boxes they are delivered to you via UPS or Fedex. After that the boxes are yours to use for the move. When you are done with boxes you can either recycle them or save the recycled boxes for another move. 

Old Fashion Dumpster Diving 

Price Range: Your Time, Energy and Personal Hygiene 

 Boxes from the dumpsters or back of stores are the cheapest moving boxes available. If you are familiar with a small business or two in your area, I recommend asking them if they will give you some of their used boxes. Asking beforehand means that you will probably have to visit less places in search of boxes. It also probably means less actually dumpster diving. 

Dumpster Diving: Not for Everyone