How to Move House more Sustainably

Don't buy Boxes

You’ll be surprised how many people advertise on social media that they no longer need boxes. We were lucky because I have a lot of boxes going in & out of Appletree & Avalon HQ, but I still put out an ad for more.

We also scoured Supermarkets for additional big boxes too.

We used no plastic tape & only used paper based tape like I do with all of your parcels & all boxes have been either given away or reused on your orders over time.

Remember your Garden bits too

For anyone who follows on Social, you’ll know that I’m mad about my plants. The Buyers of our previous home weren’t bothered about our garden & after all that we’d done to encourage wildlife, we couldn’t just leave it.

It was a shame that they weren’t into it, because, firstly, it was beautiful & mature, but at the same time, I just could not walk away knowing that they were sadly the type of people to put down plastic grass & add a hot tub into the space instead of my flower bed.

So, with help from my partner & family, we spent a day carefully extracting the plants & trees. Although I was terrified that we may have some casualties, I am happy & relieved to say we did a great job & saved them all!

Don't under estimate the work

We ended up relocating (as many of you will know), so this wasn’t a small move for us

We decided to relocate back to Derbyshire, where I personally grew up in the countryside!

In this decision, we also chose to buy an older property, where it needed a lot of work.

We felt this was a better option to a newer property, having weighed up the benefits for nature.

It did mean that we were in for the long run & some very late nights however!

We’ve been lucky in part, where we’ve managed to save money by uncovering wooden floors under old carpet. We live very minimally, so once the work has been done, we aren’t big tech folk, so we have lots of house plants & upcycled bits & bobs.

The old carpet hasn’t been discarded either, as it’s been useful in our shed & under furniture to stop it scratching

Don't add to landfill where you don't need to

Although we have had to replace a lot of things, due to moving from a newer property to an older one in style, we have really tried to avoid wasting anything we no longer wanted or needed.

Naturally, we’ve had some bits that are no longer necessary in the home, so we have either sold on Social media, given away to friends & family or given to charity. I also recently posted about how I donated a lot of bits to the Red Cross for Ukraine families

It’s true what they say, ‘One Mans Trash, is another’s treasure’!

We’ve even given away our old Kitchen units & bathroom bits, including the used toilets! It sounds unbelievable, but there are lots of people out there renovating too!

Luckily we don’t need for much as we’ve lived together for a number of years, but if we have needed any new furniture, I’ve sourced second hand or upcycled

Truthfully, something I never thought I’d be into, but over the years, I’ve really enjoyed the experience

Get your hands dirty

As well as getting involved & doing a lot ourselves (which feels really rewarding), I’d also suggest looking at alternative options to things like paint that may not seem obvious as harmful to the planet

There are lots of chalk based paints now available on the market, but if you can’t afford these options or are looking for something else, please just don’t throw away your pots of paint

Paint is full of chemicals that can cause pollution and is harmful to local wildlife

If you want to get rid of paint, you can donate to Charities such as this one, who are creating communities where everyone has the opportunity to brighten their spaces and their lives

What other things have you done that you could share?

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What I learned at Christmas

After the time we’ve all had after Covid, being away from family, shut away, on top of our own personal traumas. We need to take a moment or two daily to reflect & process these.

Working is hard enough, but running a small business alongside too, is tough.

There hasn’t been an easy time yet. I wouldn’t change it for the world, and am extremely grateful, but sometimes you have to put yourself first & I wouldn’t want anyone going into one without realising
Christmas, is one time to feel less guilty about selfcare (Not that you ever should)!

As we move into the New Year

I said last year that 2020 was the year for vision & it certainly gave us that. Chaos, destruction & grief all in 12 months. Helping us to see how fragile our world is & how delicate our lives depend on the rest of the world.

The appreciation of nature grew & we all enjoyed the outdoors more than we ever realised. Yearning for a freedom, that for some (including us) is still not in clear sight.

If I have one wish for 2021, its that we now all start taking action. We’ve moved on so much over the last few years, with more & more people becoming aware of their impact & changing their lifestyle for the future of our planet.

It is within us to change & we hold the power to do so, for our future, for our planet, for our children, for nature.

2020 The year everyone’s talking about

This week Sir David Attenborough signed up to Instagram for the first time to help spread his environmental message.

“I am making this move… because, as we all know, the world is in trouble,” he said in his first video message on the social media platform.

“Continents are on fire. Glaciers are melting. Coral reefs are dying… The list goes on and on,” he continued.

Within an hour of his first post, he had more than 200,000 followers, and by 16:15 BST he had 1.2m followers!! Let’s hope more people start listening now

“Saving our planet is now a communications challenge,” the veteran broadcaster said.

How to Move House more Sustainably

Don't buy Boxes

Remember your Garden bits too

Don't under estimate the work

Don't add to landfill where you don't need to