How to Recycle Moving Packing Materials?

26 April 2010- Environment degeneration affects all- those who pollute as well as those who do not pollute environment! If you are moving to other place and using all those packing materials that are not environment friendly and also if you are disposing of all your moving and packing materials without any concern towards environment, you will also be affected by the hazards of pollution along with those who have no fault of theirs! Therefore, the wisest thing to do is to use eco friendly packaging materials before a move and recycling moving materials after a move. This article will tell you ways about how to recycle moving materials including all your packing supplies as well as moving boxes.

Ways to Recycle Moving Materials Before your Move

You can take some steps before your move for protecting environment and contributing in recycling materials. This will, of course, take some of your time and efforts but is beneficial in long terms for the whole mankind.

• Donate your electronic items or other consumer items that you do not intend to take away with you, to some non profit organizations. Many electronic manufacturers also accept old electronic equipment for recycling.
• Visit websites like earth911.org that uses your zip code to give you a list of ways to recycle in your area.
• Use phone directory to find out recycling centers or paper recycling companies in your area and give them all that which you plan to discard as garbage. They will sort out what can be recycled and exclude others that you can dispose off.

Use Green Packing Materials to Help Recycling

To use green packing materials is the best way to start recycling your moving materials. Now, what all are the eco friendly or green packing materials? Here we go to tell you.

• Biodegradable packing peanuts- Use them in place of bubble wrap that are manufactured by using non-green processes.
• Starch-based packing materials- These are static-free materials too. Use them to cushion against your computers or other electronic items.
• Popcorns- Yes, the one you eat! This is the most innovative initiative of the moving industry. Popcorns are biodegradable. Use them instead of artificial packing popcorn made from Styrofoam. Styrofoam recycling is tough and they mostly end up in our landfill. However, when using popcorns for packing, ensure you get the unbuttered and unsalted variety.
• Fabrics- You may also use blankets, sheets, and towels etc. to protect fragile items.
• Post consumer waste paper- It is made from 100% recycled material. Wherever you need paper for cushioning or wrapping up fragile items, use these papers. Even better, use papers from used magazines, newspapers etc. available right at your home.
• Recyclable Moving Boxes- Moving boxes and other packing materials made from non-waxed paper goods and cardboard can only be recycled. So, use these types of moving materials as packing boxes.

Ways to Recycle Moving Materials After your Move

Some ways are repetitive, like visiting websites like earth911.org to find out how you can recycle used moving materials in the new area and finding the recycling centers as well as recycling mechanism of the new area where you have now moved in. If you have used green packing materials and have followed general instructions for an eco friendly move, you will need to do a little for recycling moving materials after your move.

• Disassemble your used cardboard moving boxes and flatten them by cutting the tape at each end. Now stack them into piles of similar sizes and bind them together. You can call up some recycling center of your area to pick them up or wait for community recyclables pick up.
• Gather the newsprint and other paper materials that were used to wrap or cushion your items together into an appropriate paper recycling bin. Then follow the same procedure for paper recycling as you did for moving boxes.
• Find out the recycling resources that recycle hazardous products and unwanted electronic items, cell phones and other such devices. This will let you know how to recycle them.

There are different procedures for various types of recyclable items. For example, some hazardous materials need to be delivered to appropriate disposal facilities, while some other items can be picked up at your home by a recycling truck. However, the best way is not to bring with you any avoidable hazardous material with your belongings. Apart from posing risk to your other goods, they also affect the environment negatively. Know about these Non-Secure Items (Items not to be Packed). Avoid them during your move and you won't have to worry about how to recycle such moving materials?