According to The World Bank, we produce about 2.01 billion tons of municipal solid waste in the world every year. This waste leaves harmful effects on the world, and it’s our responsibility to find ways to decrease these effects and reduce waste. Many activities in the world produce a lot of waste, including relocating or moving. It’s an activity that requires many things such as boxes, plastic wraps, and other packing materials.
After they’re used, people discard them and try to get rid of them as soon as possible, not realizing how they can negatively impact the world. That’s why it’s crucial to make your relocation process as eco-friendly as possible. You can do that with the help of these five tips:
1. Pack Only What You Need
One of the easiest things to make your move more green is to pack fewer things or only pack items you need and use. This way, you won’t have to throw out things you don’t need during your move.
It would be even better to go through your things before packing to differentiate between things you use and don’t use anymore. You can also sell the things you don’t need in a yard sale rather than throwing them out and letting them go to waste that can harm the environment. This way, you can also decrease the waste that comes with the relocation process.
2. Reuse Instead of Buying New Boxes or Containers
Many people buy new boxes and containers in excess for their shifting as they fear it won’t be sufficient to pack their belongings. This is wrong because they’re only adding more waste this way. That’s why you should use boxes that you’ve used before so that you can save money and decrease wastage.
If you buy new boxes, don’t throw them out; you can use them again next time you have to move. You can even give them to someone who would need them, like a friend or a family member, or sell them for a reasonable price.
3. Be Creative with Wrapping and Packaging
Many things need to be wrapped properly before packing them as they’re fragile when it comes to moving. Try another option instead of investing in non-biodegradable materials that could cost a pretty penny, like plastic and bubble wraps.
You could just start with materials you already have that you can easily recycle and reuse, such as towels, blankets, washcloths, and even newspapers and socks to wrap your fragile things. Here are some uses of these materials:
- Blankets: Blankets are the perfect material that you can use to wrap your furniture items so that they don’t get damaged during the move.
- Towels: These can be used to wrap up fragile things such as cutlery sets and tea sets. This way, they won’t break while getting shoved around during the move.
- Newspapers: These are also perfect for wrapping up things like glasses, mugs, etc. Newspapers can also be used to fill up empty spaces in boxes that contain your most prized possessions to stop them from moving and sliding around and getting damaged.
- If you need extra precaution, you could order a roll of Eco-Friendly Bubble Wrap made from recycled content.
4. Avoid Going Back and Forth from Your Old Home to Your New Home
As your car or any other vehicle emits greenhouse gases harmful to the environment, it’s best to avoid traveling back and forth from your old home to your new home during the move.
If you want to get all of your things moved to your home in one go and decrease the number of trips you would need to take, then you should hire a moving company or international movers. With the help of their trucks, all of your possessions can be transported to your house in one trip without having to worry about making any more trips to your old home because you forgot something.
There are certain things that moving companies need to be careful about as well regarding their trucks during the relocation process, such as:
- They should have GPS devices installed in their trucks to take the shortest route that is smooth and fuel-efficient.
- It’s important to consider biodiesel or eco-friendly fuel for their trucks.
- They can also buy unused packing boxes, containers, and other materials from customers that don’t need them.
5. Go Green at Your New Home
After you successfully move into your new home, it doesn’t mean that you should become careless in it. You should try to make it as eco-friendly as possible. There are different ways you can do that easily, such as:
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Use Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
We all care for the hygiene of our house and want to keep it clean. However, using cleaning chemicals that have toxic substances isn’t right. They’re not only harmful to your family and you but also to the environment.
Instead, you can make your own eco-friendly cleaning products to use. For example, baking soda and solutions of water and white vinegar. Baking soda can easily remove dirt from your bathroom and kitchen floors, while a solution of water and white vinegar can clean your hardwood floors.
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Install LED Lights in Your House
If you want to install eco-friendly and affordable lighting, LED lights are the perfect option.
Choose Eco-friendly Moving for International Relocation
Shifting into a new home may cause excess waste to be produced, but you can avoid that through careful planning. Use old boxes and containers for packing, and don’t discard them after use.
Hire a moving company to help you relocate your furniture and other luggage to your new home. That will eliminate the need for another trip. By following these tips, you can conduct a relocation process successfully that prioritizes the well-being of your environment.
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