We moved twice with Free Moving Supplies or "How to keep moving economical!"
Nov 17 '00
I just found this category today and I thought I'd add my thoughts. Usually, I stick to the medical topics under "Health and Wellness" and "Kids and Family," but this out to be a nice change of pace.
My wife and I moved twice in the last 2 years. We initially moved from Reno, NV to Iowa. We rented a house here. After staying in this house for one year, we had a lot of problems with our landlord. We moved into another house, across town.
Both times we decided to rent a Ryder truck and do the moving ourselves. This was after researching all of the major brands of "do-it-yourself" trucks in our area. (BTW, we couldn't rent Budget or Penske in our area).
From the research I did back then, it was definitely cheaper to move ourselves rather than hire a moving company to do the work. I even looked into some of the discounts offered by moving companies, and doing it ourselves was the cheapest way to go. I had just finished medical school, and didn't have much money!
Anyway, so how did we get free moving materials? This may be difficult, but it was perfect for us. My wife works in the operating room as an R.N. In surgery, and other parts of hospitals, they wrap items to be sterilized in something called CSR wrap. CSR wrap is a blue fabric-like material. It is difficult to describe, however it is sort of like a paper-fabric mix. It is really soft.
Now, hospitals, especially operating rooms, go through tons of this stuff! Many instruments are wrapped in this prior to sterilization. After going through the autoclave, the instruments remain in the CSR wraps until used. The wraps are opened, the instruments are used in the surgery, and the wraps are disposed of. These are perfectly clean and don't get involved in all the "blood and guts" of hospital work.
We asked my wife's co-workers to save these wraps for us and she brought home 3-5 garbage bags of them every day! These would have just been thrown away, but we were able to use them. Talk about recycling! But we still needed boxes.....
Now, hospitals receive tons of supplies every day. These come shipped by UPS, Fed Ex, US Mail, or any other services and all come in boxes. These boxes are then broken down, and at most places sent for recycling. We spoke with the people who worked at the receiving dock at the hospital (and the housekeepers on the floors) and got more boxes than we ever needed!
Another great pointer for getting boxes cheep is getting them from friends who recently moved. These boxes can certainly be reused! (I do ask that, for the sake of the environment, you recycle them after they have been used!)
As far as tape, we had to break down and buy some. However, you can buy 6 rolls of thick shipping tape at a warehouse store (Costco or Sam's Club for example) extremely cheep and this is easily enough!
How about markers for the boxes? Again, return to the OR.
They have skin markers that are used to draw on patients prior to surgery. Sometimes, some are opened and then the surgery is cancelled, or for some other reason the marker never gets used and never gets bloody. There you go! We brought home a couple of these and we were set!
Now, obviously, this doesn't work for everyone, but if you know anyone that works in a hospital (especially in the OR), ask them for help. These wraps work great for packing fragile items. We didn't have anything break and we moved about 1700 miles!
As far as boxes, I'm sure there are many other businesses you can get them from. Just ask around!
Good luck with your move. I hope this helps.
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Epinions.com ID:
scottcolson
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Member: Scott Colson, MD
Location: OH to NV, to IA, finally in MN!
Reviews written: 106
Trusted by: 91 members
About Me:
Family Physician practicing in the Twin Cities, MN
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