Is a Green Move Possible?

When Mark and I put our home on the market a few months ago, we didn’t necessarily expect it to sell. Imagine our surprise when we accepted an offer last week. One of the few contingencies of the sale is that we move out by October 8th—yikes!

Obviously, Mark and I are very green. Mark drives a hybrid 3 miles to work and I work from home. We take short showers (and use a low-flow showerhead). We recycle. We compost. We use cloth bags and buy local. But, even for us, a green move is a challenge.

We found a new home we love (cross your fingers our offer is accepted) that’s significantly smaller than our current home. That means we’re not just faced with packing and moving, but we’re faced with getting rid of a lot of stuff. As we’re sorting our possessions, we place things in four main piles: (1) keep, (2) give to family/friends, (3) donate, and (4) recycle. Unfortunately, we needed to create a fifth pile: trash.

There are some things that simply don’t fit in any of our four main piles. Luckily, our trash pile is very, very small, but every time I add something to it, I feel a pang of green guilt. Why I bring this up is that if very green people still end up with stuff in a “trash” pile, I shutter to think about what happens when non-eco people move.

Question of the blog: What are your tips for ensuring an authentically green move?