5 Eco Friendly Moving Tips

Moving is highly stressful and expensive for everyone, but it can also be one of the least “green” things we ever do. Chances are you’ve sold your house through a sell my property website or a property agent somewhere, well whichever method you’ve chosen, all of those boxes, packing tape, crates, and of course that giant moving van increase our waste and carbon footprint dramatically when moving house. So before you start planning for your new home and if there’s any home improvement that needs to be completed, here are some tips to reduce the waste and help “green” your next move.

Start packing early, and use recycled or recyclable packing materials. By far the biggest source of waste in moving comes from all of those boxes and other packing materials necessary to complete the move. If you start packing early you might be able to source used boxes from local stores or even a friend or relative who just finished moving. You can also reuse bubble wrap and newspapers as packing material. If reusing materials isn’t an option, “new” boxes and other supplies made from recycled materials are available. There are also companies that rent durable shipping crates.

De-clutter before the move. If you don’t need it, get rid of it. Before a move is the perfect time to go through all of your belongings and make sure that you don’t keep carting around those mystery boxes that have been sitting in the attic for the past 10 years. Donate, recycle, or throw away anything you don’t want or can’t use.

Whether you’re looking for removals to Oman or something a little more local like removals to London, make sure you rent the right size van. That giant van is the biggest source of the greenhouse gases that come from moving. Too large or too small a van will increase the pollution and your fuel charges. Look for a van that is large enough to move all of your belongings in one trip but isn’t so large that it will have lots of wasted space.

Use eco-friendly cleaners to clean your old place. Or hire an environmentally friendly cleaning company to do it for you. Many stores carry nontoxic, natural cleaning products. Health food stores are a good place to start looking, but a lot of larger chain stores now carry them as well. Also consider using eco-friendly paints to paint your new home.

Reduce your junk mail at the new address by filling out a temporary change of address form instead of a permanent one. The postal service will forward your new address to important contacts but won’t send it to direct marketers.