Eco Friendly Moving: how to move more sustainably
If you’ve ever taken a moment to look at what’s left over when you’ve finished unpacking, you’ll appreciate how many packing materials you need to move house. With the growing awareness to reduce, reuse and recycle to minimise our impact on the environment, we’d like to share some tips about making your next move more eco friendly.
1. Change your home organisation habits
Most of us wait until we move house to consider decluttering, because moving lends itself well to the process. Moving forces us to review everything we own as we’re faced with the task of packing it all into boxes.
Realistically, we hold onto many items we don’t actually need, because it’s easier to put them in a cupboard and forget about them. If you adopt a ‘spring cleaning’ attitude to decluttering by clearing out these items every year, you’ll have significantly less to deal with when it comes time to move house. Smaller moves require fewer packing materials.
2. Get creative when packing
If you’re packing up your house yourself, adopt a creative, but sensible approach to packing. You can use old towels or sheets instead of packing paper, which has the dual benefit of reducing your need for packing materials and reduces your overall volume of boxes. Use balled up socks to fill those empty pockets in boxes where you would normally scrunch up paper.
Pack efficiently, thinking about how you can fill each box the best without overloading it. Take a ‘Russian Doll’ approach to packing, fitting smaller objects inside larger ones to fill empty spaces. For example, after you’ve stacked your pots, there’s still space in the smallest pot for something else.
You can use ordinary boxes instead of moving boxes if you can get them for free. We recommend you only use them for items that won’t get damaged if the box takes a knock. Also, avoid loading them with heavy items. Moving boxes are reinforced, which is why they’re better for fragile items or anything with weight.
3. Choose natural alternatives wherever possible
Plastic wrap is excellent for weather and dirt protection, but if these aren’t a factor in your move, seek alternatives to reduce your need for plastic. Wrap furniture in old sheets, hire moving blankets or use biodegradable packaging. There are many packaging alternatives to plastic made from paper, cornstarch, seaweed and other biodegradable materials. There are even packaging products made from mushrooms!
4. Buy recycled moving boxes
We tend to think of a moving box as a single use item. They’re not. Moving boxes are designed to stand up to the demands of moving, meaning they can be used many times before they wear out. We sell recycled moving boxes in our box shop.
5. Reuse and recycle when you’ve unpacked
If you’ve purchased packing paper, much of it can be used again. Offer it on your local community social media page, or recycle it if it has no further use. Likewise, your boxes will also be useful for anyone else about to move house, or recycle any that are damaged or ripped.
Happy eco friendly moving!
