(Photo: Getty Images)
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.