How to Make Moving Home Eco-Friendly

When we think about moving home, we often think about packing, removals companies, moving days, excitement and stress! But how often do we think about the planet? While many of us try to be as eco-friendly as possible in our day-to-day lives, we can forget to take the environment into account amidst the hustle and bustle of moving home.

Fortunately, making your move as green as possible doesn’t need to be too difficult. If you’ve got an interest in saving the planet, here are some easy-to-achieve top tips for making your house move eco-friendly.

Clear out before you move out

The less you move, the better your move will be for the environment. Moving fewer possessions means using fewer boxes and packing materials, fewer trips to and from your new home, and a smaller removals van. Before your moving date, make sure you have a big clear out to ensure you’re not moving anything unnecessarily.

Donate, don’t ditch

That being said, how you dispose of the things you don’t want to move is also important. Instead of throwing unwanted possessions away, try to sell them or donate them to charity to avoid waste. If there’s anything you can’t sell or donate, make sure you recycle it at a local recycling facility to prevent it ending up in landfill.

Precise quoting

When the time comes to get a quote from your removals company, try to be as precise as possible. Giving your removals team a detailed inventory of everything you need to move will help them to match a vehicle to your needs as precisely as possible, avoiding the use of a van that’s too big for the job and therefore wasteful when it comes to both space and pollution.

Responsible materials

Packing materials are a huge part of any move, so a good way to make sure you’re being eco-friendly is to use materials that are eco-friendly! Cardboard boxes can be easily reused and recycled; if you don’t want to buy new ones, it can be useful to pop into local shops to ask if they have any used boxes that they might be willing to donate.

Pack efficiently

Moving and packing can be overwhelming, and it can be tempting to go round throwing things in boxes at random. However, planning your packing in advance will help you use space efficiently, meaning fewer boxes and a smaller moving vehicle – both of which are better news for the environment.

Clean green

The ‘big final clean’ is a huge part of any move and can be a great time to develop some green cleaning habits. Manufactured cleaning products can contain some nasty chemicals and toxins, so switching to natural products can be healthier for both your home and the planet.

Paper trail

Notifying all relevant companies of your move in advance can help to avoid letters going missing and having to be sent out twice. In fact, moving house can be a great opportunity to request to go paper-free entirely when you contact new providers or change your address.

Look for BAR membership

When booking your removals company, look for membership of the British Association of Removers. One of the strict criteria for membership is the use of environmentally-friendly and recyclable materials, so the BAR seal of approval will tell you your chosen removals team are meeting set environmental benchmarks.

Here at TFM, the environment is at the forefront of all our removals. Not only are our packing materials all fully recyclable, we’ll even collect and recycle materials for you if you’re moving somewhere local to our offices. We also plan all our removals carefully and efficiently to limit the number of journeys and vehicles required for each job.

If you want more information or advice on making your move more eco-friendly, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us today.