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Tips for Making an Eco-Friendly Move
From Larry West,
Your Guide to Environmental Issues.
Simple Ideas Will Make Your Move Less Wasteful
Moving may be inherently unfriendly to the environment given that carting
stuff around means expending lots of fuel and emitting a lot of pollutants,
but there are ways to “relocate responsibly.”
Tips for Eco-Friendly Moving
For starters, the less stuff we accumulate in the first place the less we
have to pick up and move elsewhere—so fighting the pack-rat urge and
minimizing trips to shopping malls in the first place are good
prerequisites.
Beyond what may already be too late to undo, though, one can lessen their
environmental footprint when moving by first giving away or selling any
non-essential items.
Neighborhood yard sales and giveaways are one way to go, while websites like
Ebay, Craig’s List and Freecycle provide virtual ways to unload unwanted
stuff. Books can be donated to local libraries, and most schools will be
happy to make use of old computers. And Goodwill and other charities will
gladly take old clothes for resale in thrift outlets.
While all that’s going on, the environmentally-conscious mover would also
want to be hoarding bubble wrap, cardboard boxes, padded envelopes and other
packing materials instead of going out and buying them new. Many liquor,
grocery, hardware and other retail stores are happy to give away large
cardboard boxes they no longer need and would have to otherwise discard or
recycle. Calling around first will save the headache and the emissions of
driving around to individual stores one-by-one to ask them.
Move with Recyclable or Reusable Packing Materials
As to the move itself, if you’re fortunate enough to be relocating within
Orange County, Los Angeles one green option is to rent “RecoPack” moving
boxes from Earth Friendly Moving. The company, which has plans to expand
nationwide over the next five years, provides five different stackable sizes
of durable moving cartons made from recycled plastic bottles. The rental
cost is just a dollar per box per week—and the company’s biodiesel-powered
trucks will drop-off and pick-up the boxes before and after the move.
Not in southern California? Rent-a-Crate, which has 13 U.S. locations coast
to coast, also rents re-usable (though not recycled) plastic moving crates
that they’ll deliver to and pick up from any location. The company works
extensively in the office relocation business, too, and rents other reusable
accessories such as dollies for rolling heavy crates and crates for delicate
items like computers and even medical x-ray films.
Don’t Forget Eco-Friendly Cleaning Supplies
And remember, there is more to moving green than just moving. Use only
eco-friendly cleaning products when scrubbing down the old place. If you
live in the Washington, DC or Baltimore, MD area, a crew from Green Clean
will send a professional crew that uses only nontoxic, biodegradable
cleaners. Otherwise, health food stores all carry green cleaners that you
can use yourself or instruct the hired help to use.
After the Move: Cut Down on Junk Mail
A tip from the Care2 “Green Moving Guide”: File a temporary change of
address with your post office rather than a permanent one to cut down on
junk mail at the new place. The U.S. Postal Service sells lists of permanent
address changes to direct marketers, but doesn’t bother doing so with
temporary addresses.
GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The
Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at:
www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
EarthTalk is a regular feature of E/The Environmental Magazine. Selected
EarthTalk columns are reprinted on About Environmental Issues by permission
of the editors of E. |
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