or grab a bunch of boxes from behind a grocery or liquor store like normal people do. Do you really spend over $100 on new cardboard boxes every time you move?

people are usually giving boxes away... when we moved, we were offered boxes by at least 2 or 3 friends. I'd check craigslist or freecycle- and then list yours on there too and try to give them to someone else in need.

Just in case you didn't know, in the free section of craigslist, people give away their used moving boxes everyday. There is no need to ever buy a "new" box...I saw a women loading her SUV with a bunch of new boxes from Home Depot and nearly wept...I am not green, just cheap.

While this is a good idea (there is a similar business here in SoCal), I have to wonder...what if you need more than a week to pack all your stuff? It always takes me at least a month to pack everything up.

It'd be better if one didn't have so much stuff. Moving is so much easier if you aren't addicted to stuff. How many sets of sheets do you use at once? How many throw pillows does your sofa or bed need. My bed needs one set of sheets, one comforter, and no throw pillows. I don't have a sofa and my club chairs don't need throw pillows. Clutter is the problem, not cardboard or plastic boxes.

Skip the plastic. Cardboard is recyclable and trees are a renewable resource.

I'm a huge fan of liquor store boxes for moving - they're sturdy and fabulous for dishes and books. and they're free. you can also use your office's copy paper boxes or boxes from the grocery store.

With all of these free boxes to be reused, why would I pay to use plastic? plastic that has to be delivered? and paid for... They need to use these boxes to deliver to the grocery stores and liquor stores - then I'll use them.

it's not "new" plastic...it's all recycled post-consumer waste. And I'd pay to use them in a minute...take a look at the website to see their stats before touting that cardboard boxes (even reused) are the best option. Sure, reusing something that would otherwise be thrown out is a great idea, but having all the materials there and ready to go is worth something.

Also, for those of us that don't have cars, the delivery option is pretty fantastic (loads better than me preparing for a move two months in advance and carrying one box home every day for the 20 minute walk).

http://zippgo.com/why-move-green.php

Looks like part of the rental price is also a dolly, which you're not going to find for free and not many people have someone to easily borrow one from.

And a wardrobe box, which I've always been a bit puzzled by, but I guess it's good for people who have very delicate closet items like... what, fur coats?

Not for me since I'm a weirdo packrat who has actually used the same boxes through my three last moves. (They currently live flattened under my bed, which is too close to the ground for any kind of traditional under-bed storage). But for someone who wants *really* sturdy boxes and has too busy a life to drive around picking up free ones, it's a pretty good option.

Better than buying boxes from Home Depot, that's for sure.

Good idea, but not for me. There's no way I can pack my stuff in those since I always start packing over a month before I move. I have a lot of stuff! :) I've never had to purchase boxes. Like other said, Craigslist is the best option for free cardboard boxes.

My husband and I have lots of books and paperwork. We are also small people and prefer not to lift too much at a time. Liquor boxes and cheap file boxes are our go to size and the file boxes are reusable for relatively attractive storage. Also they have handles which makes moving easier as well. These boxes look pretty big.

My last move used the same boxes - supplied by a moving company. I am in commerical design so I used our usual move company we retain for clients.

These are great - their large size makes packing a breeze. They stack cleanly and protect their contents as they cannot crush.

After completing my move the company never did come back to get them - so I am ready for my next move. In the mean while they are great for storing items and lending out to friends for their move.

I just finished the "college years" and with the college years came a lot of moving.....like 9 locations in 6 years. I purchased about 10 of the large (I'm talking the ones that could fit a dead body!!) blue plastic totes and have used them for the past 4 or so moves. I use the smaller blue totes for the heavier things. Last move, I got smart and used a moving company. They seemed to really like having "boxes" all the same size and I didn't have to worry about packing them too full since there were always two guys to carry things.

I wrote in sharpie marker on the outside what was inside. Each move I just put a line through the previous.

After the move, I just stack them together and slide them into a closet for the next move. I'm sure when I get a house one day I will have things I will need to store in the attic or garage where these totes will come in handy.

(Of course this style might not work for those of you who live in cities that "lack" space. I live in Texas...in a 800 sq foot 1 bedroom apartment with an patio storage closet.)

Copy paper boxes always worked for me, they're free and can handle heavy loads plus being stacked, when I'm done with them I offer them to the next person moving.

when i moved from Ottawa to London (the other one - in
Canada), i gave all my boxes to a co-worker who was moving a couple of months later.

she gave them back to me when i ended up moving *again* 4 months after i got here. then i listed them on Freecycle.

last year, when i was moving to my house, another co-worker gave me boxes from her move and i passed them on to another couple of co-workers.

there's always someone with boxes to give you and someone who needs them to hand them off to.

I'm all about the free boxes, too ... liquor and grocery stores, and work. I also passed mine on to a coworker afterwards.

Buying boxes to move is conspicuous consumerism.

If your into scrounging around for cardboard boxes, dumpster diving, and driving to random locations then this kind of service isn't for you. I've moved several times and absolutely hate it. I've got enough things going on in my life between work and my social life that I really don't want to be driving around looking for used cardboard boxes. Also, the one time I got cardboard boxes from a random person on Craigslist (cuz I was trying to be "Green"), the guy I got em from had them in his basement and they were dusty and dirty. It was pain trying to shove these boxes in my car. Never again. If you don't have a car, this service is even better. This service sounds perfect because for $120 I get all these boxes delivered to me and I'm all set. People spend $120 on a night out eating and drinking and on a pair of shoes. I for one will use this service for making my life 10X less stressful when I am moving.

I swear, AT profiled this exact same product about four months ago.

"I swear, AT profiled this exact same product about four months ago."

Looking at the search function, they've talked about the same sort of idea before at least twice, but by different companies from this one. Rentagreenbox.com and Karmaboxx.com. They might be in different regions too, I didn't really bother to check.

I've moved 15 times in 12 years (this time I've finally bought a place, so I'm in for a while)...and I've never BOUGHT a box in my entire life. It's cheaper and greener to get boxes from places that are ALREADY throwing them away anyway. Then, when you're done with them, use them to store Christmas decorations, or hang on to them for when someone else moves, then you can pass them onto them. Renting crates seems way more wasteful than it intends to be.

In theory it's a "green" idea but in practice it really isn't.

My last move I didn't buy a box. I had family give me boxes from their businesses, got some from liquor stores, already had a bunch (I'm a packrat) and picked some up from Freecycle.

All for free because I am supreme tight-wad. All were saved from the dump and all are currently torn down in wait for another move; many of which I've had for moving and storage since the early 90s.

Same goes for most of the packing material.

This is a good solution for some people but I think I would be in the majority to think that perhaps on a large scale "green" saving cardboard boxes from going to the dump (from local stores, businesses, etc...) is the best solution at this time. Save the plastic for more permanent items like storage containers, fibers for clothes and carpeting, building materials, etc...

Until businesses find such a solution (as these plastic boxes) for transporting everyday goods without the use of cardboard, I think reusing cardboard is a better solution on many fronts.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

Oh and to the person that mentioned sheets and throw pillows and whatever...What is fine for you may not be so for others. I personally sort of subscribe to that idea that having less is more but a lot of people don't and the reasons are as many as there are people. But I will say this, heck, even prisoners try to decorate their cells. Humans are such that they desire personalized surroundings. Some live simply while some live with a lot. To each their own.

so far we've only moved locally (within a 40 minute radius). I've never bought a box.

We've always grabbed about 6 boxes that were going into the recycling bin at work. We packed them up with stuff, drove them to the new home (along with a car full of clothing or other items), unpacked them, and re-used the boxes for the haul the next day. (We always move all of our kitchen items, linens, and clothing items in stages, and reserve the last day for the "big furniture move".) Many items such as pots and clothing we move without packing at all... we put them in our clean car and go.

In the end, the 6 boxes are in pieces, and are returned to the recycling bin at work.
I'm sure someone will criticize us for all of our driving... however, we prefer to clean our new place and organize the kitchen, bathroom, and closets before moving in our furniture and settling in. This is the only way to do that. At least we're not using tons of bubble wrap, tissue paper, and boxes :-)

Who cleans these boxes between moves? Do I really want to put my clothes and pillows in boxes that 399 other people have already used? Yuck!

I have one word for all the folks using scrounged boxes:

Bedbugs

The first thing I thought of was, isn't it 'greener' to re-use some boxes that'd be thrown away? there's no way i'd pay $119 for boxes. i don't know anyone who's ever bought any. you don't have to get them from a dumpster...try craigslist, your neighbors, your mom, any grocery stores...Sam's gives boxes away every time you buy groceries there. seriously, sometimes i think the Green people are just out there to make money off other peoples' ignorance. (which would make sense...money's green...ahaha...ok that wasn't funny...done now.)

Its great if you like jumping in a grocery store dumpster to get cardboard boxes, but that is not for me. I think these types of businesses are in fact green because a majority of people in the US will not go to Freecycle or Craigslist or go in a dumpster to get cardboard boxes. Its just the way it is. Most people will be buying new cardboard. And after they move they will dump that stuff which messes up our planet. Again, I think Freecycle and other ways to reuse cardboard are great and its what I do but most people will not. If these plastic boxes stop those people from buying new cardboard then I hope this company achieves extraordinary success. Not everyone "never buys a box" or "goes to dumpsters of their local grocery store".

Wow, I always opt for the free ones you find behind grocery, dollar, and drug stores - if you pay attention to when they get deliveries, you can get them right after they are put out. Plus I can get many with lids from my mom-in-law's office since they throw out the boxes printer paper comes in. I tend to break down and save at least half for my next move. But again we pack and move ourselves instead of hiring movers to do it all for us since I'm in my 20's and I'm not wasting money on something I can do myself.

This is a terrible waste of product and should never ever be called "green".

williamsweyr -- Some people like to have a change of sheets since not every single person has a washer/dryer in their home. I admit to having a few changes plus more than one blanket for each bed. Winters can be brutally cold at times.

We primarily use scavenged boxes, but we have purchased boxes a few times because we were unable to find a box the right size size for some of our stuff. Also, in some cities, all the cardboard dumpsters for businesses are designed so you can't get in to take boxes (they just have a slot to put flattened boxes in). We also used a wardrobe box as a portable closet when we had a few days between move-out and move-in. It's now folded up at the back of the closet for the next time we move, because it was so much handier than stuffing all our clothes into boxes.

That said, I would love to use a service like this. Scavenging enough boxes can take forever, or require you to store tons of boxes before the move. Plus, then there is the hassle of breaking them down and getting them all to a recycling center afterwards. There is a reason stores use this system for small items; it's darn handy!

I've used the green bin/moving company method while packing up our place of business. They're a cool idea in theory. Neatly stacking boxes make moving a little bit tidier. The one huge issue we found with them is that they're one-size-fits-all...but they certainly don't fit all. We ended up with a good amount of stuff just from the office that wouldn't fit in the boxes, and I would imagine it would be an even bigger problem in the home. The bins had tapered sides, which made packing even flat items a little tricky. And the moving company wouldn't take any bins that didn't have completely flat lids (ie: the stuff that didn't conform to the green bins' size), or open lids (paintings and larger items we just simply set in the bin). So we ended up having to move those in a colleagues mini van.

They're an interesting moving solution, but far from perfect.

I wish there was something like this for international moves since re-used cardboard boxes are not so good for shipping (as in on a ship in a not-necessarily-watertight shipping container).

Thanks for the recommendation, AT! You caught me just in time. I am your typical city girl: my time and my social calendar is super important to me, and I do everything without a car. When I came across your article last week, I thought I was dreaming. I was literally about to spend this last weekend scouring the city for recycled cardboard boxes and figure out a way to lug them back to my apartment, two to three pieces at a time. Instead, because of your recommendation, I called Zippgo and scheduled a delivery of these reusable moving boxes made from recycled plastic, which might I add, totally rocks! They worked with my schedule and we set up a time for them to come with the boxes.

I have moved four times in the last four years within San Francisco, and let me tell you, moving is not fun. They have saved me so much time, that now I can schedule in some dates.

Now all I gotta do, is find me a man! :)

usedcardboardboxes.com

Thanks for sharing such informative post.