Much is said about cutting down our carbon footprint while traveling, but what about when you’re moving house? Italy Magazine learns about one removals company that's undergone a green revolution.
Are you fastidious about taking out your recycling, cycling to work and bringing your reusable water bottle with you wherever you go? A 2020 survey commissioned by The Recycling Partnership and SWNS found that 85% of Americans strongly believe in recycling, while over half make an active effort to recycle in some way.
Chances are, however, that all these good habits go out the window when it comes to moving house, especially when it’s to a brand new country. Packing up your worldly belongings and setting up a new home is stressful at the best of times, and is only made more so by all the logistical complications of doing so in Italy.
For many removals and logistics companies, eco credentials are fairly low on the list. Even when movers may have the best intentions, the plastic packaging, cardboard boxes, air miles, fuel emissions and quantity of things that end up on the scrapheap can feel unavoidable.
Not so for Bliss Moving & Logistics, an Italian-based corporation who are ahead of the curve when it comes to their commitment to the environment. “Our goal is to find an economic and ecological balance that allows our company to grow in numbers without affecting the environment,” explains Francesco Argirò, President & CEO of Bliss Corporation. "Adopting sustainability as a business principle means exactly that: integrating concrete choices and technological vanguards in environmental protection into your business strategy. We’re managing available resources efficiently and strategically, involving employees and stakeholders in the decision-making process, and making the company's activities sustainable.”
Over the past few years, Bliss has been on a path to review every element of its business through an environmental lens, “from the transport of materials and finished products, to the recycling of packaging; from the emission of harmful substances due to production, to the possibility of producing goods already with their recycling in mind. In short, logistics that are more efficient and more respectful of the planet and our people.”
Recently, Bliss Corporation was awarded a Platinum medal from Ecovadis, which certifies the company is able to manage its environmental responsibilities and places it in the top 1% of businesses.
So, what does this mean in practice?
Bliss works closely with 3BEE, a charity which improves bee health and biodiversity for Italian beekeepers, and Blisswood, which is part of the Give a Tree’project. They have chosen to eliminate plastic from all the adhesive tape used in packaging and boxes, and to use environmentally friendly boxes with natural dyes. In the new biodegradable packaging chips, polystyrene filling has been replaced with corn fillers. These are reusable, can dissolve in water without being polluting, and have no static charge. Finally, they use cotton bags to transport all clothes during the removal process.
By breaking away from "traditional" removal and delivery companies to offer something new, the management team at Bliss Corporation believe they’re freeing themselves up to change not only their company practices, but to raise the bar for international moving companies in general.
"Ambitious commitments are not enough, we need concrete results," concludes Carolina Taddei, PR & Media Relations Manager at Bliss Corporation. To finish off, she shared some tips on how to personally reduce the negative environmental impact of a move.
Stick to sustainable packaging
“Packaging is also undergoing a real revolution, and is one of the best ways to reduce waste and carbon footprint for both individuals and companies,” explains Carolina. For its part, Bliss has started using a new product to make environmentally friendly packaging from recycled raw materials.
Carry out virtual inspections
Carrying out inspections on properties before the move date means making unnecessary trips all over the world. For this reason, in recent years the Bliss Corporation has chosen to integrate an artificial intelligence technology called Yembo into its systems, which allows such inspections to be carried out remotely. According to Carolina, "this has allowed us to carry out numerous international removals, guaranteeing our customers a quality service and confirming the great competitiveness of our company in the markets in which we operate. The result: the reduction of in-person visits saves employees' time, streamlines their workload, is time consuming and reduces the company's carbon footprint.”
Be mindful of your purchasing choices
Another piece of advice that Carolina gives is to ensure that where possible the items you buy for your new home are not only made from responsibly sourced natural materials, but easy to recycle at the end of their lifespan. In particular, she suggests resources that come from recycled raw materials, such as environmentally friendly paper, biodegradable materials and cotton — and components from controlled supply chains.
Pay attention to the disposal process of materials that you leave behind
Packing up all your worldly belongings can be overwhelming, but resist the urge to save time and take everything to the scrapheap. Instead, an incredible amount of furniture can be sold online, giving you more money to spend on your new Italian home. Failing that, there are multiple platforms where it can be given away or upcycled to bring joy to someone else. Anything that does need to be chucked away should at least be sorted into recyclable materials so it won't end up in the landfill.
Choose a moving company that practices what is preaches
Finally, Bliss Corporation is adamant that for real change to be implemented, large corporations must go further than making vague promises and commitments to environmental projects. Don’t be afraid to shop around, ask questions and probe for information, in order to be sure that the company you go with are doing all they can to reduce environmentally harmful emissions during the move.
If you are thinking of moving to Italy or anywhere else in the world, take a look at Bliss Moving & Logistics on their website, blog or their company presentation video to learn about how to make the whole process greener.
