4 Eco-Friendly Tips For Moving House

Moving house can be a daunting prospect, but with this guide, we want to show you that not only can you make it stress-free, you can also make it as eco-friendly as possible.

There are a number of things you can do to reduce the cost of your move and to make your life a little easier during the packing process. So here are our eco-friendly tips for moving house.

1. Declutter before you start packing

Firstly, one of the most effective ways to reduce the amount you need to pack and the number of boxes you need to pack is to make an inventory of all of the items that you own and decide what you really need. Just follow these steps:

• Audit what you own.
• Decide what you don’t want or need - there is no point in packing items you don’t want to take to your new house!
• Decide what you want to sell, what goes to charity and what can be responsibly recycled. 

You can sell unwanted items on reselling sites including ebay, Gumtree, Vinted and Facebook Marketplace.

This process may seem tedious and time-consuming at first, but it's a great way to declutter your house and prepare for your upcoming move. It will also save you time in the long run, so your future self will thank you.

Also, by reselling, giving away and recycling items you are helping to be as sustainable as possible. The resell market is growing rapidly, which is great to see and it’s a nice feeling to know that your unwanted items will go on to be loved by someone else.

2. Use eco-friendly packing materials

Now that you’ve decluttered you can start to think about packing. When it comes to moving house as sustainably as possible, use packing materials that you already have to hand or that you can borrow from friends and family. 

Traditionally, old cardboard boxes and newspaper make for great packing materials and they’re pretty easy to get a hold of, but you can also use all kinds of materials such as:

• Bedsheets
• Towels
• Socks & underwear
• Hats, scarves and thick jumpers

You can be as creative as you like here, as there’s lots of household items that make for great packing solutions. Thick jumpers, wooly hats, scarves, bedsheets and towels are great for padding out boxes with delicate items. 

3. Get rentable moving crates

If you’re short on boxes then a great eco-friendly tip for moving house is to rent crates. Companies such as Crate Hire UK, Pluscrates and Teacrate all offer sustainable solutions, so you can make your move as eco as possible. It’s such a great feeling to be able to unpack and simply hand the crates back over once you’re done!

4. Use an eco-friendly moving company 

Finally, it’s important to remember that everyone’s moving requirements and needs are different. Sometimes you really need extra help and moving companies can be great. They’re well organised and are the absolute pro’s when it comes to arranging a house move. And what’s even better is it’s now pretty common to find an eco-friendly house moving company.

These eco-friendly house movers provide reusable blankets and packing boxes which can be returned to the company once you're done with them. This reduces the amount of waste and packaging materials that are sent to landfill each year, and it also helps to reduce the overall cost of your move. Some companies even encourage their clients to recycle and reuse old packing materials to cut down on the amount of waste produced during the moving process.

Just make sure to do your research on the company first to ensure that they are eco-friendly and sustainable, rather than just greenwashing.

Final thoughts

So, with a little bit of thought and preparation, you can use our eco-friendly tips for moving house to move to your new home as easily and sustainably as possible. Hopefully, you can see that it isn’t too daunting when you consider the steps you can take to make your move successful.