Moving is an environmentally taxing ordeal. Although green products and services are increasingly popular in seemingly every domain, I found environmentally-conscious moving services to be surprisingly rare. Most of them are concentrated in California, New York, and New England. In addition, it was hard to get a sense of how to compare different moving options. How much of my total moving footprint is comprised of how much stuff I have, how I pack it, and how I move it? As with a lot of green living ideas, there are a lot of tips floating around but very little actual data on whether those tips actually make an impact, how big of an impact, and which ones are the most important. My sense is that the biggest factors are how much you move and how your stuff is transported, taking as given the distance of your move.
After searching for as much information as I could find, I took a three-pronged approach to my own moving method: 1) giving away as much stuff as possible to people who could use it, 2) buying reusable containers to store my stuff during moving, and 3) using the greenest method possible to move my stuff.
- I gave away and donated as much stuff as possible to friends and through Craigslist, giving several gallons of used cooking oil to Biodiesel@MIT, donating used eyeglasses to the Lion's Club, and books and DVDs to the Boston Public Library.
- There are a couple of companies that rent out reusable plastic containers (similar to the ones grocery delivery services use) for moving, but they are localized to Boston and California. Thus, instead of buying or reusing cardboard boxes, I purchased 21 reusable plastic containers online that now serve as handy storage bins in my new home.
- I rented a moving container from PODS, which was both very convenient and which I figured might be most efficient given that the company has discretion over how and when to ship the container instead of having one single truck that goes from source to destination. The other option I considered was renting a spot in a trailer from a company like Broadway Express, an option I would guess is also more efficient than renting an individual truck.
- What's the most fuel-efficient moving method?
- Driving your own moving truck across country
- Hiring movers to drive a truck across country
- Renting space in a large trailer that will be trucked across country
- Using a portable storage container like PODS
- What's the best way to pack your stuff?
- Buying new cardboard boxes made of recycled material (obviously the boxes themselves will be more energy-intensive, but this has the benefit of reducing the risk that your stuff will get damaged, and having uniform boxes helps to pack more stuff into the same amount of space)
- Buying reused cardboard boxes through some of the services below
- Renting reusable plastic containers (only available in select areas)
- Buying reusable plastic containers
- Is it better to sell your furniture and other stuff you will need and buy another set of furniture (used or new) at your destination? Or is it better to keep all of your stuff and ship it over a long distance?
General article on green moving:http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/garden/22moving.html
Green moving companies:
- (Directory of green moving companies) http://greenmoversusa.com/
- (Boston) http://www.gentlegiant.com/moving-companies/moving-companies-new-england/moving-companies-boston-ma.aspx
- (New York) http://www.moversnotshakers.com/
- (New York) http://www.serenitymovers.com/
- (Rent reusable plastic moving bins, LA and Orange County only) http://www.rentacrate.com/homes.php
- (Recycled boxes and other moving supplies, based in Austin and San Antonio) http://www.ecobox.com/
- (Rent reusable plastic moving bins, Boston only) http://www.lifetotes.com/
Recycling / reusing old stuff:
- (Boston) Donate books and media to the Boston Public Library: http://www.bpl.org/general/policies/collectiondev.htm
- (Boston) Donate used cooking oil to Biodiesel@MIT: http://web.mit.edu/biodiesel/
- Recycle your old shoes: http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/
- Donate working electronics, educational supplies, and unopened, unexpired medical and hygiene supplies to MADRE, an international women's human rights organization http://www.madre.org/index.php?s=3&b=9&p=61
- Donated your old eyeglasses and unexpired contacts
2 comments:
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