Guide
Eco-friendly moving: how to cut your CO2 footprint without extra hassle
What is an eco-friendly move? An eco-friendly move doesn't have to be a hassle. It's a moving process where you consciously minimise waste and CO2 emissions by reusing materials, avoiding single-use plastic and optimising your transport. An average move generates large amounts of unnecessary waste, but with a few practical changes you can make the whole process greener, spare the climate – and skip a lot of hassle on moving day at the same time.
TL;DR: how to move greener (and with less hassle):
- Rent reusable moving boxes instead of buying new ones.
- Protect your belongings with towels and clothes instead of bubble wrap.
- Sort and donate surplus items before you pack.
- Take advantage of moving-box delivery to save unnecessary trips.
Why choose a sustainable move? Save CO2 and skip the cardboard waste
An eco-friendly move is largely about breaking with the throwaway culture. Statistics Denmark recorded 861,718 moves in 2025. Based on average home sizes, we estimate that this adds up to around 20.5 million moving boxes in use here in Denmark every year. That generates an estimated 4,450 tonnes of cardboard waste, primarily because we buy thin, cheap cardboard boxes that break or get taken to the recycling centre after a few trips.
On top of that, the many individual car trips to hardware stores and recycling centres account for up to 30% of the total CO2 footprint of a local private move. When you think sustainably, you don't just spare the climate from unnecessary overproduction and CO2 emissions – you also minimise the stress and wasted time involved in borrowing a car or renting a shared car for the move and shuttling back and forth across the city boundary.
3 practical tips for a greener and easier move
The most effective methods for a green move don't require extra work. On the contrary, they often make the move easier.
1. Sort and donate in good time, before you pack
The quickest route to a greener move is to reduce the amount of stuff that needs moving. A systematic sort-through before moving can reduce your total belongings by 15-20%, which on average saves you 10-15 moving boxes and minimises the need for a larger (and more CO2-emitting) moving van. Use our moving box calculator to see how many boxes you actually need once you've sorted.
Use the '4-box method' (Keep, Sell, Donate, Recycle) room by room. Sell clothes and electronics on platforms like DBA, Vinted or Sellpy, and donate surplus furniture to organisations such as the Red Cross or Kirkens Korshær – several of these even offer free collection of large furniture straight from your address. This circular principle gives your things a longer life with others and reduces the total energy use associated with your move.
2. Ditch single-use plastic: use towels and blankets instead
Replace bubble wrap and single-use packaging with shock-absorbing materials you already have at home. Use the 'nest method': place shock-absorbing towels in the bottom of the box, pack plates vertically, and protect glasses by rolling them up in socks. If you need professional protection for particularly fragile items, swap bubble wrap for honeycomb paper (e.g. Geami WrapPak) or FSC-certified tissue paper, which is 100% biodegradable.
If you need to seal boxes, avoid the wide PVC tape, which leaves microplastics in the recycling process, and choose water-activated kraft paper tape (gummed paper tape) instead. Unlike plastic tape, it bonds chemically to the cardboard fibres and can be broken down directly at the recycling centre without leaving microplastics – or, even better: use fold-together boxes that require no tape at all.
3. Rent moving boxes instead of buying new ones that get thrown away
The most eco-friendly choice is always to use resources that already exist and can be used again and again. Instead of buying new boxes that only last one move, you can make a significant difference by renting them.
At heybox you can rent strong moving boxes in heavy doublelayered corrugated cardboard from 300 kr for 15 boxes. So you avoid the hassle of borrowing a car, the boxes are delivered free to the kerb across all of Greater Copenhagen (from Copenhagen K to Vedbæk). Once you're settled in, they're picked up again. It spares the environment from cardboard waste, and it saves you the trouble of having to store, sell or drive the boxes to the dump afterwards.
Expert tip for the moving van: use the space and save a trip
Conventional, cheap single-wall cardboard boxes have a low vertical compression strength and often collapse under a weight above 15 kg. That forces you to pack the moving van in inefficient, low pyramid shapes so as not to crush the bottom boxes.
By renting boxes made of genuine double-wall corrugated cardboard, you can take advantage of so-called “column stacking” – geometric column stacking all the way up to the ceiling with no risk of structural collapse. This maximises the use of the moving van's cubic metres (your void-to-volume ratio), which often means you can make do with a smaller van or fewer trips. Fewer trips back and forth cut straight off the top of your move's total CO2 emissions.
Renting vs. buying moving boxes: the difference between a green and a conventional move
Being eco-friendly doesn't have to be expensive or a hassle – as our maths on buying vs. renting moving boxes shows. Here's the environmental difference between buying traditional single-use boxes and renting them via a circular model:
| Parameter | Buying conventional moving boxes | Renting moving boxes (circular model) | The environmental gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life cycle | 1-2 uses before they're thrown out or break. | Continuous reuse until the material's real end-of-life. | Massive reduction in the production of new cardboard fibres. |
| Material waste | Contributes to the estimated 4,450 tonnes of cardboard waste in Denmark. | Zero waste for you (and no trips to the recycling centre). | Prevents unnecessary incineration and resource waste. |
| Transport | Requires private driving to and from the hardware store and recycling centre. | Consolidated, route-optimised delivery and collection at your address. | Fewer kilometres driven per move means lower CO2. |
| Structure | Single-wall cardboard that easily collapses under pressure. | Heavy double-wall corrugated cardboard that protects your belongings. | Fewer damaged items reduces the climate impact of buying replacements. |
Frequently asked questions about eco-friendly moving
You move in an eco-friendly way by avoiding single-use materials and minimising your resource use. This is done most effectively by renting reusable, sturdy moving boxes instead of buying new ones, using clothes and blankets rather than bubble wrap, and donating things beforehand to reduce the transport weight.
An average move contributes to the estimated 4,450 tonnes of cardboard waste that comes each year from the roughly 20.5 million moving boxes Danes use. The majority of this waste comes from cheap, low-quality cardboard boxes that survive only a single move before being discarded.
You can pack your belongings safely and plastic-free by using old newspapers, blankets, towels and your own clothes to protect fragile items. By rolling glasses up in socks and placing cushions in the bottom of the boxes, you achieve the same protection as with bubble wrap, entirely without burdening the environment.
The benefit of renting moving boxes is that you actively reduce the overproduction of cardboard while also avoiding all the hassle of collecting and disposing of the boxes. When you rent, you get more durable boxes that can be stacked higher and protect your things better, and which are afterwards reused by others.
You can easily rent sustainable and hard-wearing moving boxes from heybox, which offers free kerbside delivery and collection across all of Greater Copenhagen. The service covers everything from Copenhagen K to Vedbæk and completely removes the need to have a car to obtain and get rid of moving boxes.