The environmental movement has gone far beyond the fringe…Most people are at least aware of basic eco-friendly initiatives like reduce-reuse-recycle, and many of us do our best to tread lightly upon the earth in a number of ways. But when it comes to moving, few people stop and think about how to relocate their household (or business) in a way that reduces environmental impact. Here are a few tips to help you with moving “green”: Before you begin packing, take a good look at all your things. Do you really need all that stuff? Anything that you never use, don’t like or just plain don’t want anymore doesn’t deserve to have any energy expended on it for relocation. Sell these items if you can, or give them away to friends, relatives or a local charity. Whatever you do, don’t move your unwanted items prior to disposing of them…that’s really wasteful! After you have reduced your belongings to those that you definitely must relocate, you’ll need to pack them. You can probably obtain a number of moving boxes secondhand from local businesses, just make sure that they’re clean and sturdy, and have lids or flaps that close to keep your belongings securely inside. Some moving companies offer extremely eco-friendly reusable plastic containers or allow you to return cardboard moving boxes that you purchased from them for a refund (as long as they are in good condition so that they may reuse them). Ask your movers what they do with moving boxes that are no longer usable – an environmentally conscious moving company will make the effort to recycle, rather than trash their unusable moving boxes. Of course it’s inevitable that moving requires a certain expenditure of energy and use of materials, it’s inescapable. But if you have to move, you have to move… you should aim to use as little energy as possible and use recyclable materials whenever possible to lessen your environmental impact. Efficiency is crucial, whether you are moving locally or long distance. You will probably use more fuel moving your belongings with a fleet of pickup trucks going back and forth several times between the old house and your new home than you will if you hire a moving truck to ship it all at once. A reliable moving company will maintain their trucks at peak efficiency, almost certainly performing better on energy usage and pollution, especially on a long distance move, than a multi-trip relocation. If you put a little effort into it, you can: • Reduce the size of your shipment; • Reuse some of the packing materials required, and • Recycle the rest! You’ll feel better knowing that you’ve put some thought into making your relocation eco-friendly. Thanks for moving “green”, every little bit helps!
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