Eco-Friendly Moving Tips: Your Ultimate Guide to a Greener Move

Why Does Moving Have an Environmental Cost?

Moving has three main environmental costs: discarded belongings, single-use packing materials, and fuel. Furniture, household goods, and food may end up in the trash during a cleanout, and packing can add cardboard, plastic wrap, foam, and other materials to the waste stream. Then there's the fuel used to transport everything to the new home.

The EPA's waste management hierarchy puts reducing and reusing ahead of recycling, so keeping usable items out of the trash and moving only what you want can go a long way.

Greener packing supplies can help, but they're only one piece of the puzzle. Start with what you're bringing, then think about how you'll pack and move it.

Pre-Move Planning Tips

Some of the best opportunities to cut waste happen before moving day. Take a little time to decide what you actually want to bring, start working through anything you can use up beforehand, and ask potential movers about the eco-friendly practices that matter to you.

A few thoughtful choices during the weeks before your move can make the rest much easier.

Declutter and Donate Responsibly

One of the simplest ways to make your move greener is to move less stuff. Fewer belongings mean less to pack and less weight and space to transport, which may help you use a smaller truck or avoid extra trips and the fuel that comes with them. Decluttering ahead of time also gives usable items a better chance of staying out of the landfill.

Instead of tossing everything you don’t want, sort items based on what makes the most sense for their condition:

• Donate: Clothing, housewares, and furniture in good condition may be useful to a local charity or nonprofit. Some charities offer free furniture donation pickup, which can save you a separate trip.
• Sell or give away: Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, OfferUp, and local Buy Nothing groups can work well for items someone nearby can still use.
• Recycle or dispose of: If your items are broken or unusable, you may need a different plan. Check local rules before tossing bulky pieces, especially if you're figuring out where to throw away furniture or how to get rid of an old couch.

Eat Down Your Pantry Before You Pack

Start reducing the items in your pantry, fridge, and freezer a few weeks before the move. Refrigerated and frozen food can be awkward to transport safely, especially on a long move, and it’s wasteful to throw out a freezer full of food on moving morning.

A simple timeline can help make sure you don’t end up with a ton of usable food that you can’t move safely:

• A few weeks out: Ease up on big grocery trips and plan meals around what you already have. This is a good time to work through frozen meals, canned goods, pasta, rice, and other pantry staples.
• About a week out: Set aside unopened, unexpired shelf-stable food you know you won't use. Local food banks and pantries commonly accept canned and dry goods, although it's worth checking their rules before dropping anything off. Opened, damaged, or expired food generally isn't accepted, and policies for refrigerated or frozen items vary.
• During the last few days: Use up perishables where you can. If you have perfectly good food left, see if a neighbor, friend, or family member can use it.
• Before moving day: Empty the refrigerator and freezer with enough time to defrost and dry them before they're moved.

Choose a Green Moving Company

If sustainability matters to you, you should ask your movers about it. Policies can vary across companies, so contacting them is better than assuming they have a particular policy.

A few useful questions include:

• Do you use reusable moving blankets, bins, or recycled-content packing materials?
• If you're providing transportation, do you offer shared-load options for long-distance moves?
• How do you decide what size truck a move needs?
• Do you have a process or local partners for donating or recycling unwanted items?
• Are there ways to reduce extra trips or unnecessary driving on moving day?

There isn't a standard eco-friendly filter on moving marketplaces, including on HireAHelper, so you'll still need to ask these questions yourself.

HireAHelper does make it easier to compare local moving labor, with upfront pricing and verified reviews available before you book. If you only need help loading or unloading, you're also hiring a crew that's already local to your area rather than bringing one in from another state.

Sustainable Packing Strategies

Packing supplies are one of the biggest sources of moving waste since most are meant to be used once and tossed. Choosing reusable, recyclable, or repurposed materials makes a big difference, so continue your sustainable efforts by packing with intention and without materials that will ultimately be thrown away.

Reuse and Repurpose Packing Materials

Start by using whatever you have around the house for convenient (and reusable) packing and storage. Suitcases, plastic bins, hampers, duffle bags, and decorative trunks all gain a second purpose when you fill them with clothes, linens, toys, and pillows.

You’ll probably still need boxes, but you don’t necessarily need to buy them new. Ask neighbors and local stores if they have boxes they're planning to recycle. You can also check your neighborhood groups or Facebook Marketplace for box bundles from locals who have recently moved.

Use Eco-Friendly Packing Supplies

If you need to buy packing materials, look for supplies that can be reused, recycled, or disposed of responsibly after the move. Different materials work better for different jobs:

• Biodegradable or cornstarch packing peanuts: These work well for filling empty space around lightweight, fragile items. Check the disposal instructions, since "biodegradable" doesn't automatically mean the material can go in your home compost.
• Recycled packing paper: Use it to wrap dishes, glassware, and other breakables or to fill empty spaces inside boxes.
• Plant-based padding: Mushroom, hemp, and other plant-fiber materials can cushion smaller fragile items without traditional plastic foam.
• Corrugated paper wrap: This paper-based alternative to bubble wrap works well around dishes, frames, décor, and other items that need surface protection.

As you’re looking at eco-friendly options, you should know that biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable don't mean the same thing. A recyclable product still needs to be accepted by your local recycling program, and some products labeled compostable need an industrial composting facility rather than a backyard compost pile. Check the packaging before deciding how you'll dispose of it.

And don't write off a reusable product just because it’s made of a particular material. A sturdy plastic crate, for example, may be used for many moves. Looking at how often something will be reused is also an eco-friendly choice you can make.

Rent Instead of Buy

Reusable moving-box services let you rent sturdy plastic crates for your move and return them when you're finished. Depending on the company, you may pick them up yourself or have a set delivered to your home and collected after you've unpacked.

Before booking, check:

• How long the standard rental period lasts
• What it costs to keep the crates longer
• Whether delivery and pickup are included
• Whether the company serves both your current and new ZIP codes
• Whether there are minimum or maximum quantities
• Where and when the crates need to be returned

For some moves, renting reusable crates can cost about the same overall as buying a similar amount of new cardboard, especially if you don't need a long rental period. They're also stackable, don't require tape, and disappear when you return them instead of becoming another pile of stuff to deal with.

If you're deciding between new, used, or rented boxes, our guide to whether buying moving boxes is worth it can help you compare your options.

Optimize Transportation

Transportation creates emissions through the fuel used to move your belongings. While this is unavoidable if you need to get all your belongings to a new home, two of the biggest things you can control are how many miles you drive and how efficiently you use the vehicle you've rented.

A little planning can help you avoid an unnecessary second trip without renting far more truck than you need.

Choose the Right Truck Size and Consolidate Trips

If you want to make your move as green as possible, you’ll need to make sure your truck is the right size. A truck that's too small can force a second trip, while one that's much larger than you need uses more fuel and leaves extra space for belongings to shift.

If you're unsure about truck size, Penske's Truck Size Wizard can suggest a size based on your inventory.

And if a friend or neighbor happens to be moving in the same direction, sharing packing materials or transportation may cut down on duplicate trips. Just make sure there's enough room and that your rental or carrier allows it.

Fuel-Efficient Routes and Timing

One of the best ways to optimize fuel usage during a move is to reduce mileage and idling time. Strategies might include:

• Reducing the number of stops along the way
• Avoiding unnecessary detours
• Considering factors like traffic and speed limits
• Minimizing left turns, which tend to be more time-consuming
• Sticking to routes that allow efficient driving speeds of 40-50 mph

You can use a GPS tool or a route optimization service to explore multiple routes, and try to time your move so you’re on the road outside of local rush hours. Just be sure to check on the same day and time as your scheduled move, as traffic patterns can shift significantly.

Post-Move Sustainability

As you unpack after a move, consider these eco-friendly moving tips to keep the sustainability going even after your moving day has come and gone.

Recycle or Reuse Boxes and Supplies

Whether you used recyclable or reusable boxes and supplies, now’s the time to pass them along or dispose of them responsibly. That could mean posting items for sale or free pickup on a local neighborhood group or marketplace. Or, you can use the Earth911 recycling search tool to find a recycling center near you.

However, there are more ways to give your eco-friendly moving supplies a second life:

• Use cardboard boxes to build a fort or a temporary home for your pet (the kids can help build and decorate it).
• Shred paper for pet bedding or to use as insulation.
• Decorate packing paper with stamps and markers for personalized stationery or wrapping paper.
• Stack smaller boxes to use for tool or shoe storage in your garage.
• Break down cardboard boxes and use panels for weed control in your vegetable garden.
• Use bubble packs to pack fragile or dirty items in your suitcase when leaving for or coming home from a trip.
• Cover cardboard cutouts in fabric remnants to make bespoke picture frames or wall décor.

Support Local and Eco-Conscious Services

After researching green moving resources, take some time to explore eco-friendly services and vendors in your new neighborhood.

• Green utility providers: While renewable energy sources are becoming more prevalent, you might have limited options depending on what’s available in your area. See if your local utility companies offer solar, wind, or hydropower options.
• Eco-conscious home goods stores: If you can find an eco-conscious home goods store in your area, support it. Otherwise, you can save money and the environment by sourcing new-to-you furnishings at local thrift stores or on local marketplace apps.
• Local shops: Shopping local supports your community and reduces emissions and waste from shipping and excess packaging.

It’s okay to complete this list one item at a time. For example, you might start with one utility company while you get settled and then switch to a more eco-friendly one later.

Why Trust HireAHelper

HireAHelper is a marketplace that helps people compare and book professional moving help, with more than 1 million moves facilitated through the platform. That gives us a pretty good look at what goes into moving a household, including all the boxes, supplies, transportation, and leftovers that can come with it.

For this guide, we looked at practical ways to reduce waste without making an already busy move more complicated. That means focusing on changes that are realistic for most households, such as moving fewer belongings, reusing packing materials when possible, planning transportation carefully, and finding another use for supplies after the move.