6 Ways You Can Reduce Your Move’s Environmental Impact

Moving is a daunting and hectic task that almost everyone has to face at some point in their lives. When you move to a different place, you have a lot of things to think about, such as the packing, your finances and the movers who’ll help you relocate. With so many things to handle, it’s understandable if your move’s environmental impact is the last thing on your mind. In fact, most don’t even realize that moving to a different home can impact the environment to begin with. Unfortunately, a move can indeed affect the environment. Luckily, there is a way to get around the environmental impacts caused by a move.

Here are the six different ways homeowners can reduce their environmental impact when moving to a new home.

1. Use Alternatives to Plastic Covers – When transporting large furniture and upholstery, most homeowners tend to cover it up in large, heavy plastic sleeves. Since you’re using plastic, that alone can already have a negative impact on the environment. With that in mind, if you’re looking to reduce the environmental impact of your move, consider swapping the plastic sleeves for large drop cloths instead as you can still use these cloths in different ways.

2. Hire a Green Moving Company – If you need the assistance of a moving company to relocate to your new home, consider hiring a moving company that is committed to eco-friendly practices in order to reduce the environmental effects of your move. Often, green moving companies use trucks that run on biodiesel fuel instead of the traditional petrol, reducing the greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. Apart from that, eco-friendly moving services can also set you up with reusable moving boxes, further reducing the waste you generate when you move.

3. Use Eco-Friendly Packing Materials – Some materials you use in packing, such as cardboard boxes and packing peanuts, aren’t environmentally friendly as they take a long time to decompose or they don’t decompose at all. This increases the environmental impact of your move. Therefore, if you’re looking to reduce the environmental impact caused by relocating to a new home, it’s highly recommended that you use environmentally friendly materials, such as reusable boxes and shredded paper to pad your boxes.

4. Recycle or Donate Things You No Longer Need – If you have things that you no longer need or use, it’s not logical to bring it with you to your new home. However, just because you no longer need them, it doesn’t mean that your only solution is to throw them away. In fact, if you want to reduce the environmental impact of your move, you can consider recycling the things you no longer need instead. If you have any unwanted household goods, furniture, clothing, or equipment that are still in good condition, you can donate them to those who actually need them. If you have any broken electronics, on the other hand, some computer stores also run recycling programs. By donating or recycling the things you don’t intend to take with you to your new residence, you can reduce the environmental impact of your move by a significant amount.

5. Buy Energy-Efficient Appliances – On the other hand, if you’re buying new appliances for your new home, try to find brands that have energy-efficient features. To do this, experts recommend that you look for appliances with an ENERGY STAR® logo as these are the appliances and electronics that don’t consume too much electricity when in use.

6. Be Efficient With Your Fuel – Fuel is the leading cause of the dangerous emissions that can harm our environment. As such, if you intend to do your moving on your own, you can reduce your environmental impact by being efficient with your fuel. To accomplish this, consider making fewer trips and keep your tires inflated to increase your car’s fuel economy.

Make your search for local movers easier by turning to Star Moving Solutions, the leading experts to approach when it comes to local and international moving services. Give us a call at (703) 421-6510 or fill out our contact form to request a FREE estimate.

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