Moving house is not the kind of experience anyone actually wants to go through. Even with a man and van hire and even with professional movers on your side, the experience can be traumatic (and it is actually believed that it is one of the top 3 most traumatic events in one’s life – not necessarily without reason).
If you have decided that you want your removal to be eco-friendly, you may feel slightly overwhelmed and stressed out as well. Stress does come with all removals, but the truth is that you will feel much better about yourself if you choose to do it the environmentally friendly way. How do you do this and how do you get through your eco-friendly “moving house project” without going completely crazy?
Here are some of the things you should know:
1. Plan early. In some ways, eco-friendly removals are not very different from their less environmentally friendly “counterparts”. Planning and organizing everything as early as possible is the best way to make sure that you don’t get to the point where you run out of time and you simply “stuff” everything in whatever boxes and bags you have at hand.
2. Don’t panic. At first, you will feel that there are just too many things to handle on your own. In most of the cases you would be right (and this is where professional movers’ services come into the picture). Keep your cool and plan ahead – these are the two basic pieces of advice you should absolutely keep in mind when moving (eco-friendly or not)
3. Start with the things you don’t use anymore (including food, toys and clothes) and give them to someone who will actually use them (shelters, various websites online that mean to help people in need and so on). Move on to the things you use only rarely and pack those. Start packing the things you frequently use only a few days before the removals date. Make sure to leave out some clothes to wear 1-2 days before and after the moving day, some easy to prepare food (pasta for example) and your basic hygiene items (including towels, shampoo, soap, toothbrush, tooth paste, bed linens and so on).
4. You might feel that moving in an environmentally friendly way is a lot more difficult than moving the “normal” way. However, you may be surprised at just how easy it can be. In the end, an eco-friendly house move is nothing but a normal house move that “avoids” waste. By simply giving away your old clothes and recycling old magazines and paper you find around the house, you will have made a huge step forward in your attempt to help Earth.
5. When you plan your moving, make sure you take into consideration using eco-friendly packaging materials as well. These days, they can be found in a lot of places and they can be quite inexpensive as well – but the key is to do some research and see where you can find them long before the actual moving date and before you even start packing your first things. Otherwise, you might be too stressed out on the last minute and you may want to simply give up on your idea.
6. SMILE. It may be hard to believe, but a smile can go a long way when it comes to eliminating stress. Smile, breathe in, go out for a jog, listen to some music. Moving the eco-friendly way should not be an extra-source of stress, but a way to make yourself feel good.
