Sunday solutions: Moving green

Question: I am getting ready to move and want to do everything as “greenly” as possible. Do you have any tips for this? Thanks! Gabrielle

Answer: The reduce, reuse, recycle triumverate — in that order –applies with moving too.

So first, reduce the amount of stuff you have to move. This’ll not only lighten your load and its related carbon footprint, but can also save you money (in moving and storage fees), stress, and possibly your back. Craigslist it, freecycle it, or sell it at an old fashioned yard sale — then donate what’s left before you think about packing things up. If you’ve accumulated so much junk that you can’t bear the thought of sorting through it all, you might consider getting the help of an eco-organizer.

Once you’ve shrunk the stuff you have to move, get a moving truck that’ll fit that stuff in one go, if possible, to reduce the number of trips — and the resulting carbon emissions — you’ll need to make. Doing this will likely save you time and money too.

One local company to consider for moving and storage services is NorthStar Moving Corporation, which recently announced that it’s converted vehicles to biodiesel fuel, uses vaults made of reused wood for storage, and offers discount offers to customers who use and return recycled boxes. I haven’t tried out their services myself though, and the green info’s not on their website yet, so call for full details before you commit.

Then reuse. For moving boxes, either find once-used cardboard boxes to reuse (again, a money-saving move) or rent RecoPacks from rentagreenbox.com, a company that’ll deliver and pick up reusable boxes made from recycled plastic that I briefly wrote about way back when.

And lastly, recycle. If you’re moving to an apartment that doesn’t yet have blue bins, call the city to order them now so you don’t have to worry about figuring out where your nearest recycling center is and hauling your recyclables there. Do what you can to make eco-living in your new home as easy and as pleasurable as possible!