Moving home is one of the biggest stresses you’ll experience in your lifetime so getting it done as quickly and as smoothly as possible is probably top of your agenda.
However, in day to day life you see yourself as an environmentally friendly being, someone who recycles, doesn’t leave the tap running when brushing your teeth, walks or cycles when possible and turns off lights in empty rooms, so why should your eco-ethics change when moving house?
In fact, your ecological mind should be on high alert, this is the time to really go to town and hone in on your environmentally friendly skills.
Before you start anything there’s one major tip “you must start early”. The date you think you should start packing, give yourself a couple more weeks as planning is the key here.
Manage your waste
Food waste is one of the biggest eco-issues when moving home as you’re defrosting a freezer which, no doubt, will have plenty of food and store cupboards which will have those unwanted tins and cans which you will never eat.
So, 3 months before your moving date start eating your way through your freezer, plan meals and don’t top up on frozen food you will not eat.
For in-date cans of unwanted food, visit your local food bank where they will be more than happy to take on all of your unwanted items. Same goes for unopened packets of pasta, rice, pulses etc.
So not only are you being environmentally friendly you are helping your neighbours who are currently going through a rough time.
Turn unwanted into WANTED
Moving to a new home may mean that some of your old furniture may not fit or, in most cases, may not go with the new decor, so it’s time to either make money or make charities happy.
eBay, Facebook Market Place and Gumtree are all great places to sell unwanted furniture and to give it a new lease of life. It’ll also help you fund your move, as it doesn’t come cheap!
If you are feeling charitable or worry that some furniture can’t be sold get it up on your WhatsApp groups, one of your neighbours, friends or family may see it and fall in love.
The best alternative is to give to a charity shop of your choosing. They can never get enough donations and often, the people that buy from themare dependent on people like you donating so they can purchase essential items at a price they can afford, so it really is a great thing to donate to charity shops.
Packaging
Packaging up your precious belongings, furniture, clothing etc. will take a lot of work and packaging materials to keep things from getting dirty, scuffed, scratched or even broken.
Stop the press….
The one thing you cannot scrimp on is quality moving boxes.
Packing boxes need to be extremely strong, not too big and you should be able to close them properly with strong tape.
They should also be the same depth so you can stack them correctly in the back of the moving truck.
If you don’t have proper packing boxes we recommend investing in some as, no doubt you’ll be moving again and will need them again, they are also great for storing stuff.
It’s a wrap
In order to keep your crockery, including your precious plates, cups and saucers, measuring jugs, vases, safe from breaking you will need to wrap them before putting them in a moving box.
You will go through lots of bubble wrap so it is advisable, in order to keep your “Green Credentials” to use bio bubble wrap which is biodegradable and doesn’t harm the environment. There is lots of eco friendly packaging on sale from void fill recycled cardboard to recycled paper wrap all at similar prices to normal packaging materials.
HOT TIP…. Label, label, label
Once you have packed your precious cargo the biggest problem people have when they reach their new home is knowing which box has what in it. So when you are packaging up your stuff make sure:
A – You don’t mix the contents of your packing boxes, for example put kitchen stuff in with your living room DVDs
B – Label each box correctly – a rough idea of contents and which room the box belongs in
It’s also important to have a few boxes labelled to say “Open First”. These are your essential boxes which you will need when you get to your new home and include a kettle, tea, coffee, biscuits, mugs, spoons, sugar, cleaning materials, your toiletries etc. If it’s your first home, maybe a bottle of champagne and a couple of champagne flutes and maybe leave the unpacking to the morning!
Your moving company
Choosing the right removals company is key to having all of your stuff delivered promptly and safely but don’t undo all of your amazing eco work by hiring a company that only use gas guzzling, smoke producing old vans, make sure that the vans they use are EEV standard (Enhanced Environmentally friendly Vehicles).
So good luck and may Mother Nature be with you all the way!
We hope you found this blog post on How to be environmentally conscious when moving home useful. Be sure to check out our post on Top 5 Ways to Reduce Your Home’s Environmental Impact for more great tips!
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