5 Ways to Make Moving Greener

by Jessica Jensen

A typical move is a major environmental hazard zone: wasted packing paper, discarded boxes and thousands of miles of smog-belching truck driving. The average American move uses 100-120 pounds of cardboard and emits 5,000 pounds of carbon dioxide for a cross-country move, or 500 pounds for an intra-state move.

We'll help you make your move more eco-friendly. Here are some tips for lower impact moving:

1. Don't move what you don't need. Go through your closets and boxes and get rid of the books, clothing and knick-knacks you won't be using at your new home. You can give things to your local Goodwill or sell them on Craigslist. You cut the carbon footprint of your move by limiting your junk!
2. Before your move, start saving your newspapers. You can use them for packing and then recycle them after your move.
3. Ask your local grocery store or electronics store for their discarded boxes, to save you hundreds of dollars and conserve precious paper resources. Then you can recycle the boxes when you're done. Or if want clean, great quality boxes, you can go to a used box dealer. Find a dealer that allows you to use recycled boxes and then recycle them again.
4. You'll probably do some house-cleaning either when you move out of your old place or into your new place. Use non-toxic cleaning products, or if you want someone to do the cleaning for you, find a green home-cleaning service in your area.
5. If you use Styrofoam peanuts when packing, recycle them after you unpack. Many cities now recycle Styrofoam, and many mailing stores accept them too.

by Jessica Jensen is a co-founder of Low Impact Living