What is a green move in the first place?

Moving green is about making simple and easy choices before, during and after your move. Moving green is actually cheaper, faster and easier than a traditional move.

We’ve broken each phase down into 3 simple and easy to read sections.

If you have a green tip that we have overlooked, by all means, please post us a note and we’ll add in your green packing and moving advice!

before your move: purge, sell and donate

Food Items:
Start by eating all of the extra food items in your place 30 to 45 days before your move date. Consume refrigerated items such as salad dressings, condiments and frozen food items first. Add in canned items from your pantry and you’ll be spending less at the market and saving money by consuming what you already bought compared to incurring the expense of moving perishable and heavy canned goods to your new place.

Out of State Food Items:
If you’re moving out of state, it’s best to have a going away party with the intent of using as many perishable and canned good items for your farwell party. This is also a great time to drink up the liquor cabinet as partially filled bottles tend to break in transit more often than full bottles. Also, all out of state shipments are based on total gross weight of the loaded truck , so lighten the load and enjoy a few drinks with your friends… it will save you in a few extra bucks and you’ll be the hostess with the mostess.

Household Cleaners:
The same applies for household cleaning items, bathroom products like shampoos, conditioners and the like. Try to use up what you have and then before you buy the same brand at the market, take a look at some of the amazing new, authentic and ultra green cleaning products available from method, myers, and earth friendly cleaning products. They’re all great and if you know of a new green product let us know. We’ll test it out and if it meets our green teams approval, we’ll add it to the list!

Books, DVD’s, CD’s, Magazines:
If you no longer have a need for educational materials like books, magazines, DVD’s and CD’s- your local library is always more than eager to accept all these items and you can write them off your next year’s tax return. Please download the 8283 IRS tax forms from our freebies section.

Stuff You Don’t Want:
I think we all have some of this stuff around. The best thing to is have a simple and ridiculous garage sale. Make sure you post that you’re having a  garage sale online and make a few signs. Plan on starting to sell at 7 am be done by 10 am. Go for it- get anything you can for the stuff that you don’t want- rememebr that every item that’s taken away is one less item that you have to pack, move and then unpack and put away. Whatever is left over, load up the car and drive it to any local charity that you know is out there doing good work.

If you have large items that will not fit into your car, call a few of the larger charitable organizations and they will schedule a pickup, usually on the weekend. Here’s a few helpful links to start the purge:

www.goodwil.com
www.salvationarmy.com

If you really don’t have the time to schedule for a pickup and just want the stuff to be gone, here’s about the coolest social interactive web portal to get rid of your stuff:

www.freerecycle.com

The whole idea is to keep this stuff out of the landfills and it fits right in with the 4R’s of recycling. We love this website and have had great success using freerecycle for our own moves!

stuff you don’t want to take to the new place:
at least 30 to 45 days before your move date, break out the digital camera and take pictures of the stuff that you know does not fit, work or be part of the new place. if your taking pictures of any furniture item, you must include accurate dimensions and multiple pictures. do yourself the favor and make sure you are brutally honest about your posting. if your cat has completely shredded the side of the sofa, it’s best to tell it like it is, take a close up of the area and people who have the time and inclination to get it fixed/repaired will call. Here’s a list of the best places to post your items:

www.craigslist.com
www.ebay.com ( make sure you do business with locals only to avoid being scammed
www.olx.com
www.backpage.com
www.pennysaver.com

during your move: here’s our top ten green packing tips

1. use your empty suitcases to pack up your handbags, belts, ties, and accessories.

2. wrap your expensive breakables like crystal, vases, collectibles in your bath towels linens and smaller bed sheets. event t-shirts will work if you run out of towels.

3. don’t throw away any usable item-  place this stuff outside and attach a free sign- it’ll be gone in no time.

4. water plants with any extra bottled water or beverages like iced teas and sodas instead of dumping down the drain.

5. don’t use any bubble wrap or packing peanuts. pack with old newspapers saved from your local  coffee shop. you can also ask your neighbors to save their papers a few weeks before start packing

6. hire a local moving company like www.gogreenmoving.com and if they’re charging you a “drive in fee” ” extra fuel surcharge”, they’re not a local company and usually are contracted by a movingbroker who only places the ad, sells and books the order and then finds the cheapest mover to move you. the less fuel used to move you, the better it is for the planet.

7. hire a green moving company like www.gogreenmoving.com powered by 100% bio-fuel, zero-waste, organic blankets, great guys who work hard and efficient on every move.. these guys are the best!

8. use green cleaning supplies that will improve the quality of your home environment. we like method, meyer’s and earth friendly cleaning products.

9. order a large truck as i’ts better to do one move than two trips trip with a smaller truck.

10. offer your movers plenty of hydration ( water, gatoraid ) and healthy snacks. think of it this way, if you take care of them, they will take care of you…  it’s like having cheap insurance.

after your move: extra green tips to reduce your footprint

stop junk mail from loading up your mailbox. You will need to register with the Mail Preference Serive at the Direct Marketing Associationa nd make sure that list the old residence and your new place. This simple step saves so many natural resources, like petroleum, water and trees… and helps reduce the amount of trash that will end up in a landfill.

Use and old trash can for your recycables and place it in a very convienant location.

save a tree, save a fish, save your environment and bring your own bag to the market. these reusable bags are becoming so hot that you can buy them about anywhere. Some of our favorite bags

chico bags
trader joes
hemp bags

Clean your new place with earth friendly cleaning products like
method, myers, earth friendly cleaning products…. these products are excellent for your health and demonstrates that you can get a great cleaning supply without trashing the planet.

Think before you buy that next thing. We’re not advocating to live like a spartan, we’re suggesting that you ask yourself, the next time i move, do I want to pack and move this thing?

Check into the local farmers market in your area. Locally grown produce is an exceptional way to reduce your carbon footprint and the food tastes better too!

Optimize your commute to work by google maps. A few miles each day adds up over the course of the year. Check the web to see if you join a carpool to and from work. Another great way to save time, money, fuel and less wear and tear on your car is always money in the bank when it’s time to sell!

If we have forgotten a tip, please let us know by leaving some feedback and we will review your tips and tricks and will add them to this section!