Many of us try our best to make eco-friendly choices in everyday life, such as recycling what rubbish we can, reducing our single-use plastics, using keep-cups instead of throwaway coffee cups and so on. When moving house, it's great to think we can carry over these environmentally conscious choices to ensure that we feel good about minimising the impact that our move will have on our environment. Even better, a lot of the changes you can make will also save you money!

Selling your home / buying a new home
When listing your home for sale an easy way to save on unnecessary paper and ink usage is to advertise online only. This is becoming the norm anyway. In a real estate report compiled in 2017, it was found that 9 out of 10 buyers relied solely on the internet when searching for a new home. Of course, you will also reduce your advertising costs greatly by eliminating the production of costly glossy brochures and mail out flyers.

Decluttering your home
Decluttering seems to be the buzz-word right now with the trend towards minimalism and earth consicous living.
We would always recommend you take stock of your belongings prior to moving - this is for the simple fact that it is neither economically wise (nor eco-friendly) to pay to move your possessions accross the country only to have them sit in a box unused in your new home! By having a garage sale you could also earn yourself a few bucks by offloading the items you no longer need or use, or you could donate these items to a worthy charity such as the Salvation Army or Vinnies.

Eco-friendly removalist
We happen to think that moving your home contents using a self pack moving container is one of the most eco-friendly ways to move interstate. When you pack your own moving container you get to choose how it is packed and what packaging materials you will use. A full-service removalist will almost certainly use a lot of bubble wrap, foam beads and styrofoam - all of these are poor choices if you are looking to minimise the impact of your move. Self pack moves also utilise the rail network throughout Australia so instead of a dedicated diesel powered truck driving across Australia with just your home contents on board, we use the rail network which is much more sustainable in terms of CO2 emissions, energy consumption and use of space.

The most eco-friendly packaging choices when moving house
We think that reusable plastic storage boxes are a great choice when packing your self pack container. Environmentally speaking, they can be re-purposed rather than discarded after one use (such as with a cardboard box). These can also be hired which is even better!
Limit the use of bubble wraps, plastic and foam fillers when packing. Alternatives are scrunched up newspaper, shredded paper, old towels, rags, linens. Clothing used to wrap fragile items, cushions as padding.
We recommend you use furniture blankets to wrap large items of furniture, you can also use your own old blankets, duvets and sheets for this purpose.
Consider using biodegradable plastic tape or paper packing tape rather than regular packing tape.

We hope these tips set you on a more environmentally friendly path when undertaking your interstate move.
Happy moving from the BSPC team!