4 Simple Ways to Make Your Move Greener

Many individuals are seeking out little ways to live a greener lifestyle, altering the way we relocate is a great place to start. While we may be in a rush when we move, there are minor adjustments we can make so the move is a little greener and sometimes even easier, cheaper and more efficient.

1) Get Rid of Stuff 

The less stuff you need to move, the easier the move. If you get rid of enough stuff, it can even mean needing a smaller moving truck and/or less trips you need to make with your own vehicle. With fewer trips and smaller moving vans, it means releasing less gas emissions into the environment. 

Go through your home with four boxes. Each one dedicated to selling, donating/giving away, recycling or just throwing away. Now is the time to purge. There is nothing more infuriating then needing to pack up junk, move junk then unpack the junk while you wonder why oh why you even bothered moving any of this stuff in the first place. Just keep in mind what you need versus what you are holding onto for no particular reason. 

2) Greener Boxes 

Buying new boxes can be a waste of money, energy and resources. Instead you can opt to rent green boxes,   

save boxes for your move or dumpster dive for boxes. Cardboard accounts for a lot of thrown away material in recycling and dumps yard. 

Also, remember to get green packing materials as well. If you know you are moving save cardboard egg cartons, newspapers, magazines and other materials to pack up more delicate items. You can also use clothing, bedding, towels and other soft materials most homes already have on hand. 

3) Clean Green 

Part of every move is cleaning up after yourself and cleaning your new home before you start unpacking. Consider purchasing some green cleaning supplies that have less chemicals that can be harmful to you and the environment. Although these type of supplies cost a little more, you can buy them in bulk through Amazon or Costco to save a little money. 

4) Waste no Food 

Before you move eat all the food in your fridge. Don't buy food you are not going to have time to prepare before the move. People frequently will empty everything in the fridge into the trashcan, because it is impossible to move perishable items long distances. Instead of wasting food, it is best to try to plan to eat as much of the perishable items as possible.  

Do not toss non-perishable items! Pack them with you or donate them to your local food bank. With so many in need, it is really a major shame to waste food. Not to mention generating food takes a lot of energy! 

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