Sustainable removals: how to move without wrecking the planet

Every house move generates a lot of waste: cardboard, bubble wrap, tape, single-use packing paper, pallets, polystyrene. Most of it ends up in landfill within a week.

A more sustainable move isn't complicated. It's a handful of choices stacked together.

Reusable crates instead of cardboard boxes

Hard plastic crates carry more weight, stack better in the van, protect fragile items more reliably, and can be used hundreds of times. We hire them out by the week. You pack, we deliver, we collect.

For a 3-bed house, switching from cardboard to crates cuts about 60 boxes of waste.

Honest packing materials

Recycled packing paper instead of bubble wrap for most breakables. It's cheaper, recyclable, and perfectly adequate.

Linen blankets instead of plastic stretch wrap for furniture.

No polystyrene chips. Ever.

Fewer, fuller loads

The single biggest environmental cost of a move is the van on the road. Smaller vans needing multiple trips beat the environmental savings of eco packaging materials.

One properly-sized van, one trip, full load: that's the greenest move you can book. It's also usually the cheapest.

What to donate rather than move

You'll pay to move stuff you're going to throw away in six months. British Heart Foundation, Emmaus, local charities: most will collect furniture for free.

Books, clothes, crockery, working electricals: all wanted by someone. Don't just move it and bin it.

Clearance with care

For house clearances we sort on site: donate, sell, recycle, dispose. Most clearances end up diverting 60–80% of contents from landfill if we have enough time to sort properly.

The Marley Moves approach

We're not the greenest removal firm in the UK, and we won't pretend to be. But reusable crates, recycled packing paper, right-sized vans, and responsible clearances are all defaults, not extras. If sustainability matters to you, say so when you book and we'll make sure the crew know.