Green Moving Supplies
Packing for your move and want to be a little more friendly to the environment?
There are many ways to do so:
- Reusable crates. There are many firms (and possibly the moving company that you choose) that are offering plastic crates to use for packing your stuff instead of cardboard moving boxes. These firms generally drop off the crates before you move and pick them up later. Just do a simple Internet search to find them in your area.
The plastic boxes can be re-used a number of times, while a cardboard box, depending on the amount of abuse it takes in a move, might only be good once. If you can't use reusable crates, recycle the cardboard boxes properly. If you don't use some, the place you bought them might take them back for other consumers.
- Products like bubble wrap and styrofoam peanuts are best avoided, unless you have an object that you really want to protect from damage during a move, particularly a fragile item. Some firms are also experimenting with packing materials made from organic materials like cornstarch and recycled paper sludge.
- There are also alternative materials you can use for packing. If you don't want to use bubble wrap, towels and clothes can work. And if you don't want to use packing paper, newsprint is an option (although don't use it with items that might be smudged with news ink).
However, a general warning. Bubble wrap and other packing materials are popular because they are effective -- any other substitutes you try might not protect your goods as well. So be aware of this balance -- don't destroy a treasured object in your attempt to move more green.
Same with boxes. If you try used boxes, they might fall apart during a move. And don't try to save on boxes by overpacking. For example, don't put books in a wardrobe box -- you might make the box so heavy the movers won't be able to lift it!
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