So, maybe it’s just me and my ridiculous sense of humour, but for whatever reason I find this store in Toronto called The Box Spot completely hysterical. I can’t help but laugh every time I walk by it. Part of it is the name — I mean, come on, The Box Spot? — but another part of it is the fact that there is an entire store devoted to boxes (two stores, in fact!). It reminds me of that episode of The Simpsons, too, when Bart’s class goes on the painfully underwhelming field trip to a box factory.
I also wonder if the box manufacturers ship their boxes inside other boxes, and whether The Box Spot might then reuse those shipping boxes as part of its merchandise? Anyway, as some of you might recall, I wrote in December (sometime around Boxing Day) about not buying any new storage containers, including but not exclusive to boxes. However, now I’m preparing to move from my condo into a house, and I think shipping and/or moving boxes count as a whole other category.
So today’s change, then, will be to only use leftover boxes from the liquor store or from friends and family who have just moved and still have some lying around (like my super assistant Eva). I’m also not going to be using any tape during the move, nor will I be purchasing special padding or bubble wrap. All supplies will be used and reusable.
Now unless I can think of some other excuse to say the word “box” again, without referencing the infamous Saturday Night Live skit (oops, too late), I think I’ll leave it at that.
Boring photo of a boring box courtesy of this website
When I moved recently, we stopped by the grocery store twice a week and picked up all the apple and orange boxes they had… for free! A benefit to these boxes, is that they typically still have the cardboard and padding in them that can be reused to!
You may also want to check Freecycle, Craigslist and Kijiji.
You can wrap in old newspapers, too, although that also entails having to wash your dishes when you unwrap them, as the ink transfers. Another option is to wrap in bedsheets, towels, clothes, and other fabrics you already have lying around. If you wrap and stack, one bedsheet can probably do most of your dinner plates, for example.
Can you get boxes from your newspaper’s office? Boxes for copy paper are generally strong enough to be loaded with books, and they close! You could ask around for people’s Christmastime Amazon boxes, too, if they haven’t already chucked ‘em.
If it weren’t for your plastic pledge I’d suggest you look into renting boxes too. They’re usually more for office moves, etc. but you can rent stackable plastic tubs for (I think) ~$1/day.
Having moved frequently in my life, I have to say, save those newspapers. Great packing materials. And if you have a plethora of personal papers that need culling and shredding, use that as packing. (Although there is the electric usage of the shredder to contend with… hmmm.) I don’t know about there, but here, you almost can’t find boxes at the regular old venues as they put them in the crusher before you can blink. If you don’t mind having to iron all your clothes, many of those could be used as cushioning as well as your linens. They are all moving with you, so why not use them?
I do worry a bit about the no tape thing. I have moved in the past and with a large professional moving company, where one of my greener packing ideas backfired. I simply left various items in their plastic storage bins, including my “memory boxes” as they were in lidded tubbies. They weren’t packed in any other packaging, nor were they taped. Imagine my horror when I watched one memory box get dropped in the gutter and under the truck! Little bits of my collection everywhere! There were other plastic storage tubbies that came from the move cracked, whereas the boxes suffered a bit of crushing, if anything. I learned then and there that there are some thing that warrant extra care on my end, because the movers don’t and won’t care what happens to your things like you do. And right now we are fortunate that there is a box store that stocks and sells used boxes… talk about recycling!
Tape, although not the greenest of packing options, does have advantages over things like twine, as any mover will tell you. Boxes taped stack in the truck easily. Containers bound with twine or other natural fibers will not stack easily or neatly, and cause other possible troubles of shifting while in transit.
Just a few thoughts from one who has been there many many times, and has the war wounds to show for it!
Happy packing!
Thanks for the great post, I may be moving soon and this one was very inspiring
My mom gets boxes from a shipping company to send clothes off to a mission.(a MCC charity, that gives them away later) Plus I have a lot of Candle party boxes because when they shipped it’s retarded how they have to package things so they don’t get broken.
What do you think of the Styrofoam peanuts? or air packets companies use for packing, which are worst for the environment? I am trying to recycle both either way.
My first thought when I saw the picture of the box was that Simpsons episode too.
When I moved a year ago, the moving company gave me a whole heap of used boxes, and then picked them up after I had unpacked everything. I think they use them as many times as they can before they fall apart. Good for them because they save money on boxes, and good for me because I didn’t have to find my own boxes, and organise the recycling afterwards.
I just packed my office today, so this is a timely post! We used a moving company, obviously, but as somebody above mentioned, they provided plastic bins. I was pleasantly surprised to discover this, because – being a chronic mover, myself – I hate box waste. We actually saved a stack of cardboard boxes and used them over the course of 3 moves. They finally kicked the bucket during the most recent move. Which was fine, because I hate storing them in my apartment. Being a tad nomadic, myself, the plastic rental bins seem like a great option for us for the future. Especially if we end up using a mover. The moving company will drop the bins for you to pack, and will come pick them up once your move is over. That way, you don’t need to find a new home for your plethora of cardboard boxes – or toss them in the recycling. And from the looks of these plastic bins, they’ve been WELL re-used.
http://www.earthfriendlymoving.com/
Earth Friendly Moving is a company that provides those plastic bins. Does it really break the no-plastic rule if you’re only renting them and they’re being reused?
Does anybody know about this site ( http://www.earthlab.com ) ? I have seen other environmental sites with carbon calculators like yahoo and tree huggers, but I am wondering what the deal with earthlab.com is? I saw they also published a list last month of the top ten greenest cities ( http://www.efficientenergy.org/Top-Ten-Green-Cities-in-the-United-States ). Does anyone know if this site is better than the others? Fill me in!
I took their carbon foot print test and it was pretty interesting, they said that I put out 4.5 tons of carbon, does anyone know about any other tests?
I just moved recently and packed almost all of my breakable items (dishes, glasses, etc) in my clothes. Sweaters, tshirts, and even socks make great wrappers for fragile items! I had a month to move too, so I brought a car load each time with me, with most of my stuff transported in laundry baskets, which I unloaded as soon as I got there and then brought back to the house, empty, for another load. I know this isn’t feasible for a lot of people, but I was only moving across town.
I second jen’s suggestion – when I’ve moved in the past, a lot of my fragile items just get wrapped in clothing that I’m going to have to move anyway.
Hi!
I read the article and wanted to share information about my green company http://www.rentagreenbox,com ( formerly called earthfriendlymoving.com). I invented a very cool plastic box called the Recopack made from our recycled plastic trash mined from our landfills! We offer three sizes starting at a $1.00 per box per week- or 15 cents a day. Please take a look at the you tube video to see our solution to cardboard boxes!
Why Pack and Move Green? The Recopack 3 minute video
Have you heard of YELP? Real People, Real Reviews! Take a look at what people are saying about Earth Friendly Moving!
http://www.yelp.com/biz/db0TU4y9DQE8DkHwHCMLuQ
Listed as one of the top ten business ideas of 2007
http://www.springwise.com/eco_sustainability/top_10_eco_sustainability_busi_1/
What’s a green product?
http://www.videojug.com/user/USEX0223
http://www.videojug.com/tag/green-product-design
If you ask, the grocery store will save banana boxes for you. They’re the best – very sturdy and they have lids.