We decided early on, that making moving more eco-friendly was important to us. Residential moves typically generate large amounts of cardboard waste which never gets recycled among other waste products like tape. In order to make moving more environmentally friendly, we have made five significant changes to the process to make moving greener.
1. Our Fleet Of Trucks All Run On Biodiesel Fuel
Since 2005, we have been using Tri-State Biodiesel fuel for our trucks. Biodiesel is a clean, renewable, carbon-neutral alternative to petroleum fuel that cuts emissions by as much as 80%. Biodiesel is rapidly biodegradable, non-toxic, and better for our health.
According to the American Lung Association, biodiesel emissions are 90% less toxic than petro-diesel, and biodiesel is recognized by the EPA as an alternative fuel after passing stringent testing under the Clean Air Act. It ultimately reduces incidences of health hazards, such as asthma, emphysema, and lung cancer.
We partner with Tri-State Biodiesel, which was founded by environmentalists and entrepreneurs to provide clean, renewable biodiesel fuel made from recycled cooking oil to the entire Tri-State region. By collecting cooking oil from local restaurants and refining it, they have become the largest and cleanest used cooking oil recycling fleet in the Greater NYC region.
2. We Recycle Old Cell Phones, Computers, And Other Electronics.
With the help of local recycling partners, all electronics we collect are recycled. Our partners have worked towards sustainability for decades and have been leading organizations in the fight to reduce eWaste.
According to the E.P.A., electronic waste contributes disproportionately to toxic contamination from landfills: e-waste is responsible for 70% of the toxins found in landfills despite providing only 1% of their total volume. E-waste contains many toxic materials, including lead, mercury, cadmium, phosphors and flame-retardants.
Recycling your electronic waste decreases energy and water use, reduces pollution, and keeps hazardous chemicals out of our air and water. Reusing unwanted electronics offers even bigger environmental benefits along with social benefits by creating local jobs and making technology accessible to people who might not be able to purchase items new.
3. All Textiles Are Recycled
Old clothes and shoes get bundled in our reusable bags and are dropped off at our partner, Wearable Collections, a clothing recycling company that diverts textiles from landfills.
Much like us, wearable collections is an innovative company that saw a problem in their neighborhood and developed a solution for it. New York City creates 11 million garbage bags worth of discarded textiles every year.
We help to reduce this number by dropping off Wearable Collections bags in advance of our moves. With the help of our partner, Wearable Collections, all discarded textiles are recycled. The average New Yorker tosses 46 pounds of clothing and other textiles in the trash each year.
Wearable Collections takes your old clothing and finds a second use by sending them to the developing world, turning them into rags or grinding them into fibers. The proceeds from the repurposed textiles get donated to Wearables Collection’s charitable partners. In addition, Walkable Collections, a subsidiary of Wearable Collections, helps to find your old shoes a new home.
In addition to their partnership with us, they also have pickups at Greenmarkets throughout New York City, at their permanent Drop Spot in Brooklyn, at the 14th Street Y in Manhattan, and at bins in over 200 apartment buildings.
4. Environmentally Sensitive And Safe Cleaning Products
Don’t be fooled by the citrusy lemon fresh scent and other mystery fragrances that are engineered by non-transparent corporations combining over 3,000 chemicals. We make sure to keep our employees safe and avoid causing damage to the environment by using safe, eco-friendly cleaning products.
Conventional cleaners are an issue environmentally and are linked to serious negative health problems. According to the Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to research and education to protect human health and the environment, fumes from cleaning products may induce asthma, can be laced with carcinogens, and can cause chemical burns, poisonings and allergies. These products are harmful to both human health and the environment, so we use eco-friendly products instead.
We use one of the worldwide leaders in environmentally sound and non-toxic cleaning products, Simple Green, for all of our cleaning purposes, including our offices, trucks, and green, reusable bins. Our director of fleet operations, Nosir, assures that all bins are completely cleaned prior to being dropped off at your home or business. Because these bins are used by all our customers, it is imperative that we deliver environmentally sensitive and professionally sanitized materials.
5. Reusable Green Bins
We are the first licensed moving company in New York to use reusable bins instead of boxes for residential moving. An average move uses half a tree’s worth of cardboard, and we’re on pace to save 1,000 trees in 2016 alone! No boxes are taped and thrown away and because the bins are reusable, there’s no waste.
The process is incredibly easy! Call us or fill out our online estimate form, and we will help you determine how many you need. Then, approximately one week before your move, we will drop off the bins to your door. They arrive clean with a fresh piece of green painter’s tape on each one for easy labeling. Imagine packing in a bin with a hinged lid that requires no tape instead of a box you need to make. Easy, right? On the day of your move, we wrap your furniture and move the bins. A week or so after the move, simply give us a call, and we’ll come pick up the bins. As a result of using the bins, you’ve saved anywhere from 25 – 200lbs of cardboard, not to mention the tape.
