How to Help Save the Planet Whilst Moving House

Moving house can be one of life’s most stressful events. With everything there is to do and organise it’s very tempting just to pretend you don’t notice how much environmental damage the average move causes.

The good news is that with a bit of advanced thought and planning, you can make your move easier on yourself and easier on the planet. To get you started, Indlu, estate agents in Manchester have recommended their top tips on how to stay environmentally friendly whilst moving house.

If you look for a house removals in London, there are companies that can deliver good performance while also keeping the environment in mind.

Declutter as Far in Advance as You Possibly Can

In an ideal world, you’d make time to declutter on a regular basis. The first time you do it, it might be painful (but cleansing), the subsequent times should be much easier and, as is generally the case in life, the more often you do something, the easier it gets each time.

In the real world, however, it’s only too easy to let decluttering slip down your list of priorities until it never gets done.

Moving, however, is a time when it needs to be done and so the best approach is to get started on it as early as possible in the proceedings.

In fact, it can be helpful to start decluttering as soon as you make the decision to move, even before you start taking action to find somewhere else to live.

When you’re decluttering, be realistic about how much effort you’re actually going to make to get rid of your stuff. Are you really going to take photos and write listings and organise collection/delivery/postage? If not, then how about just donating them?

If you sign up to a charity’s gift aid scheme, then you may be able to get a tax credit for your items. If you put an advert on a local listing site then you can have someone come to your door (or near your door) to collect them.

Use up What You Have

This goes particularly for food, which is often wasted in a move. Go through your kitchen and see what you have already and either give it away (if you know that the real reason it is still there is because you’re never going to use it) or get it eaten.

You could even make this process do double-duty by making a point of batch-cooking to save yourself a bit of time which you can use to get on with other areas of organising your move (or anything else you need to do).

Limit the Bubble Wrap

Popping bubble wrap is one of life’s great pleasures but that pleasure comes at a high environmental cost. If you must use bubble wrap then please go for the eco-friendly paper sort.  Depending on where you live you may need to buy this online, so it helps to plan in advance. In many cases, however, you can use a combination of paper and textiles to protect delicate items.

If you live anywhere near a railway station (or even some bus stops) you can usually get free newspapers and magazines, again, if you’re going to need a lot, it helps to plan in advance.

You can also use items you’re transporting anyway (such as clothes, towels and bedding) to protect delicate items.