Five green steps for moving to a new home

I recently moved out of my apartment, and as I packed my 10-years' worth of belongings under the strain of a deadline to leave my old place, I discovered how easy it is for even the most eco-minded person to be extremely un-green and create a lot of waste during this one very big event.

So I decided to make a plan for how to do it right:

 

1. Throwing out

The key in the moving process is time. Plan for time ahead of your move to assess which belongings are going with you and what it's time to part with. Clean out closets, cabinets, and under the beds so you can review and responsibly deal with your stuff.

Set a personal goal to not put anything in the trash. I always see piles of belongings next to the trash dumpsters of apartment buildings from people who moved hastily and just put their unwanteds by the curb thinking the local homeless dumpster-divers or junk collectors will take it. While this may be true for some items, in the meantime, it's a major eyesore for the neighborhood and a lot of it just ends up in landfills.

Yes, one man's trash is truly another's treasure, and there are plenty of resources for you to post all those impulse purchases, ill-thought gifts, mismatching sets of housewares, and outgrown clothes. While you may think of it as junk now, you may be surprised what people are willing to take off your hands by posting it to Craigslist, Freecycle, or eBay.

You could even make a little money from it. Or just have a good ol' fashion garage sale and whatever doesn't sell, donate to charity.

Don't know what to do with your stuff? Get tips from the Green Cheapskate's post: "When you can't decide if it's clutter or treasure."

 

2. Repurposing unwanted items

Take a good look at the items you no longer want - there may be a plethora of scraps that can be repurposed into something else. Now is the time to embrace your inner Martha Stewart and get crafty.

An old coat or pillowcase could be cut up and made into a tote bag, those CDs of bands from the ‘80s could be a groovy set of coasters, some earrings and pendants you no longer wear might make dazzling Christmas tree ornaments or wine glass charms. Sites such as Instructables and HowStuffWorks provide lots of ideas and how-to's for making new items from old ones.

Search for more craft websites.

Make a pile of potential craft projects and put them in a box to tackle after your move. If you don't get around to it in six months, try posting the supplies section of Etsy - other crafty people may be thrilled to use what you've got.

 

3. Recycling

Before you do a big clean-out, get up to speed on what can be recycled through your city's curbside program. Stacks of magazines and newspapers, piled-up junk mail (be sure to shred anything that could be used for identity theft), phone books, and metal clothes hangers are likely contenders.

Some items are actually hazardous and may require special handling (and can be illegal to toss in the trash). These include TVs, computer monitors, and batteries to name a few. But they can be recycled at surprisingly convenient drop-off points at major retail locations like Staples, Office Depot, and Goodwill.

To find out who takes what, go to Earth 911.com and type in the type of items you have and your ZIP code for a list of places near you that will recycle at no charge. Be sure to plot your course so you can load up the car and hit all the places you need in one trip to save even more carbons.

Find your city's curbside recycling information.

 

4. Packing

Once you get down to just the items you want to take with you, the trick will be how to pack it in a green way. A quick search on Craigslist, Freecycle, or your local classified should turn up plenty of free or super cheap boxes you can take off the hands of people who just moved.

Movegreen offers a cardboard box swap program for residents of California. When you're done, be sure to pay it forward and post the boxes for someone else to reuse rather than trashing them. Reusing is even better than recycling in this case. The clever folks at Rent a Green Box and The Green Box Guys have upped the ante on this idea and created more durable reusable plastic bins made from recycled materials. Then when you're done, they take the bins away for you.

For packing materials, save bubble wrap and packaging from items you've purchased online, and reuse the stuff. Or repurpose that stack of newspapers sitting by the couch, even use your own clothes or linens to wrap breakables - then you're moving two items at once!

Find more green packing supply services.

 

5. Get moving

Transportation of people and property is one of biggest environmental hazards we face today. When we move, if it's within the same city, it usually requires lots of trips back and forth to haul our goods.

Consider renting a large moving van after you have everything completely packed and ready. Then load it up. If you've estimated how much stuff you have correctly, this should only take one trip and you're done.

Or get some help by looking into professional movers that have eco-friendly practices. For example Movegreen, mentioned above, will transport your belongings using B20 biodiesel vehicles. They also plant trees and purchase carbon offsets to counter any unavoidable, un-eco actions.

Search for green movers in your area.

When it's all over, you can settle into your new place with no waste and the peace of mind that you relocated on the planet without being harmful to it.

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