Pack and Go Green

Let’s face it, moving is never fun. The

prospect of sorting through belongings

and packing box after box can raise

anyone’s stress levels. Then there’s the

stress on the environment: Tossing things

makes for trash, and moving stuff from

here to there uses up natural resources

and energy. But if you’ll be moving this

summer—it’s prime moving season—we’ve got tips to make the experience at

least more eco-friendly.

First, lessen your impact on landfills

by donating to Goodwill Industries, the

Salvation Army, or your neighborhood

thrift store. Or recycle goods through
freecycle.org or gigoit.org. You can also

try hosting a yard sale or selling items

on eBay or craigslist.

As for boxes, ask friends, coworkers,

and local supermarkets for extras you

can reuse. Treecycle.com sells recycled,

unbleached boxes, while UsedCardboardBoxes.

com rescues slightly used

boxes from businesses and new but

misprinted ones from box manufacturers.

Rentacrate (rentacrate.com) and

Southern California—based EarthFriendlyMoving

(earthfriendlymoving.com)

lease reusable plastic moving crates.

To keep your items safely cushioned in

transit, EarthFriendlyMoving also sells

compostable RecoCubes, and U-Haul

(store.uhaul.com) offers a biodegradable

corn-and-potato-starch alternative to

petroleum-based Styrofoam peanuts.

If you need help moving, consider

hiring an eco-friendly moving company,

such as California’s Go Green Moving

Solutions (gogreenmoving.com). If

you’re doing it yourself, it’s cheaper and

greener to hire a van for one trip than to

employ your car for several.