Move House and Stay Green

So recently I moved house here in Japan and during the whole moving process I challenged myself to stay as green as possible ~ So, here is my advice (which is also published on i-genius.org) for all those who may soon be moving.

Moving house is no easy task whether it is moving down to the next street or to a different country entirely. Often or not a dilemma arises for those environmentally friendly focused world citizens across the globe; how to move house but stay green at the same time?! Well, as green as can be! If you think hard enough, browse the right Internet pathways then you will surely find that help is on hand. God bless our technology! Literally!

So to help all our members out there who may be moving now or in the distant future, here is a short but beneficial list that will save money in the pocket, create more space, save time both now and in the future, as well as helping to keep the environment a super and ultra cool greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen!

Move less junk - Get rid of the old junk! The less you need to move, the less you will pay whether it is for removal companies or your own petrol top-ups and packaging materials.

Dispose of hazardous waste – responsibly – Drop them off at a hazardous waste depots. Be green my dear earthlings.

Alternative packing materials – Use materials you already have on hand. For example, you could use clothing and towels to wrap plates and delicate items as opposed to newspaper.

Packing boxes – Instead of buying cardboard boxes, you can ask at stores who will often give away cardboard boxes.

Environmentally friendly moving companies – You can find quite a few environmentally friendly moving companies these days by searching around online. An excellent website is http://www.uship.com/ where by service providers bid against each other for your shipping/removal order(s). Such service providers are also environmentally targeted by use of: hybrid trucks, use of post-consumer waste based biodiesel and so forth.

Use the move as a green audit – Check and re-check what items you have in relation to the multi-purpose tasks they can be used for. Don’t buy new items unnecessarily. Try not to be the monkey who goes out buying new items only to discover they already had them at home.

After moving – Keep all the boxes and packing materials for future use. You can flatten the boxes so they don’t take up so much space.

Free Cycle Network – A grassroots international movement of people who are giving away and receiving heaps of free stuff. So, before you dump it, advertise it! Items can be cycled around from electronic gadgets to cardboard boxes. http://uk.freecycle.org/