Got an Environmental Question? Send it to: EARTH TALK, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881. Or submit your question at: www.emagazine.com. Or e-mail us at: [email protected].

From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

---

Make a Green Move

Relocate without disrupting the environment

I’m moving and am trying to find some green guidance for making my relocation as eco-friendly as possible. Any tips?

–Holly, Elizabethtown, Penn

Moving may be inherently unfriendly to the environment given that carting stuff around means expending lots of fuel and emitting a lot of pollutants. But there are ways to relocate responsibly. For starters, the less stuff we accumulate in the first place, the less we have to pick up and move elsewhere.

Beyond what may already be too late to undo, though, you can lessen your environmental footprint when moving by first giving away or selling any non-essential items. Neighborhood yard sales and giveaways are one way to go, while websites like eBay, Craig’s List and Freecycle provide virtual ways to unload unwanted stuff. Books can be donated to local libraries, and most schools will be happy to make use of old computers. Goodwill and other charities will gladly take old clothes for resale in thrift outlets.

While all that’s going on, the environmentally conscious mover would also want to be hoarding bubble wrap, cardboard boxes, padded envelopes and other packing materials instead of going out and buying them new. Many liquor, grocery, hardware and other retail stores are happy to give away large cardboard boxes they no longer need and would have to otherwise discard or recycle. Calling around first will save the headache and the emissions of driving around to individual stores one by one to ask.

As to the move itself, if you’re fortunate enough to be relocating within Orange County, Los Angeles, one green option is to rent RecoPack moving boxes from Earth Friendly Moving. The company, which has plans to expand nationwide over the next five years, provides five different stackable sizes of durable moving cartons made from recycled plastic bottles. The rental cost is just a dollar per box per week — and the company’s biodiesel-powered trucks will drop off and pick up the boxes before and after the move.

Not in southern California? Rent-a-Crate, which has 13 U.S. locations, also rents re-usable (though not recycled) plastic moving crates that they’ll deliver to and pick up from any location. The company works extensively in the office relocation business, too, and rents other reusable accessories such as dollies for rolling heavy crates and crates for delicate items like computers and even medical x-ray films.

Remember, there is more to moving green than just moving. Use only eco-friendly cleaning products when scrubbing down the old place. If you live in the Washington, D.C. or Baltimore areas, a crew from Green Clean will send a professional crew that uses only nontoxic, biodegradable cleaners. Otherwise, health food stores all carry green cleaners that you can use yourself or instruct the hired help to use.

A tip from the Care2 Green Moving Guide: File a temporary change of address with your post office rather than a permanent one to cut down on junk mail at the new place. The U.S. Postal Service sells lists of permanent address changes to direct marketers — but doesn’t bother doing so with temporary addresses.

For more information:

• Rent-a-Crate: www.rentacrate.com, 800-427-2832.

• Green Clean: www.greencleanUSA.org.

• Care2 Green Moving Guide: www.care2.com/greenliving/green-moving-guide.html.

Got an environmental question? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek: or e-mail [email protected]. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.