Most cleaners are made up of 10% concentrate and 90% water so you are basically paying for lots of water each time you buy one of these cleaners. Additionally, because these bottles are full of  water, they weigh more, increasing the amount of gas used while the product is being trucked in from the factory and ultimately increasing the negative impact on the planet. To make  environmental matters worse, every time one of these cleaners in a plastic bottle runs out most people throw it away and go buy another bottle. Well, there is a solution.

Replenish solves this problem with an  innovative yet simple solution. Replenish has created a reusable cleaning bottle system. First you buy a specially designed Replenish plastic bottle and pods full of concentrated Replenish  cleaner.  You attach the Replenish pod to the bottle, add water from your tap to the bottle, flip the bottle over, squeeze the pod once until a few drops of concentrate come out, and then shake to  mix. Thats all. You now have a full bottle of Replenish cleaner that is earth friendly and yet two times as powerful as most cleaners.  When this bottle runs out, you simple add water again,  squeeze the pod, and mix. Voila! Another full bottle of cleaner. You can do this 4 times with each pod. When the pod runs out, you simply pop in another pod and you’ve got 4 more bottles of environmentally friendly cleaner. Each of the replacement pods cost about $4 so your cost per bottle is around $1.  Much cheaper than buying a new bottle each time you run out.

After we pickup the ZippGo boxes from our customers and get them back to our warehouse, we place all the dirty boxes in a special area of our warehouse to separate them from the clean ones. Most of our boxes are used by clients to pack clothes, kitchen items, and books so more often than not they are returned to us without much dirt or debris. Regardless of how they are returned to us, each ZippGo box goes through the same rigorous cleaning process to ensure every box is dirt and bacteria free before it is delivered to our next customer.

The first step in our cleaning process is to remove any small debris left in the box or any dust caught in corners using high pressure air. After the high pressure air, we do a visual inspection and remove any labels placed on the box. The last step is when we use Replenish to sanitize the box and remove any dirt or stains. We take box cleaning very seriously so our ZippGo plastic moving boxes look new each time they go out to a client.

If you’ve used cardboard boxes in the past to pack then you know they can hold lots of dirt, bacteria, and moisture. This is especially true if you are reusing someone else’s cardboard boxes, get them from a grocery store, or dumpster dive in the back. When you’re packing all your precious items like clothes, blankets, and kitchenware you want to make sure they go into a box which is ultra clean. Next time you move, call ZippGo and not only will your belongings stay clean, but your move will end up being faster, cheaper, and much simpler. We bring our reusable moving boxes directly to your door and pick them up after you’ve unpacked at your new place.  No more building boxes, no more tape, and no more clean up.

Take heart, though. Just because you don’t have a plot of land to till and love doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy gardening on a smaller scale. Indoor gardening can be very rewarding, add a breath of life to an otherwise simple or bland home environment, and in the cases of a vegetable garden, provide you with a small sampling of your own home grown produce.

Unorthodox Gardens: Bringing the Outdoors In

If there is one major advantage of indoor gardening over the outdoor variety it is having a controlled environment for your plants. As wonderful as San Francisco weather is, we all know how unpredictable even the mildest weather can be at times. Inside your apartment, you won’t have to worry about wind gusts knocking your plants over, unusually dry periods causing your plants to shrivel, or a late frost coming in and killing your seedlings just as they were beginning to thrive. You also won’t have to worry about those pesky weeds taking over since there will be no wind or animals to carry their seeds into your soil.

Your biggest indoor garden disadvantage, however, will be a lack of natural sunlight. If you are trying to grow a small vegetable garden indoors, you’ll also have the problem of limited natural pollination owing to the lack of wind and bees. Both of these situations can be remedied though, by taking your plants out a few hours every week and using a cotton swab to carefully pollinate the flowers by hand. Window boxes are excellent for plants that enjoy high light, but be careful not to put any plants in a window box that require only low to medium light as they may scorch.

You’ll have to decide which types of plants you’d like in your indoor garden and how you’d like to configure them. Do you want large green plants in decorative containers or long troughs of perennials to add vibrant color along the borders of your room? Make sure your containers are large enough to allow the roots plenty of room to spread out but small enough that you can easily move them around and set them outside when they need a little fresh air and light.

If you are moving to the San Francisco Bay area, why not let Zippgo help you with your moving boxes needs? If you are interested in gardening, then you obviously have a bit of green in you and our green moving boxes are leaps and bounds above traditional cardboard moving boxes in terms of environmentally friendliness. Since they are plastic, they can be reused up to 400 times before being sent off for recycling, unlike cardboard that may give you 2 or 3 uses before it falls apart. We’ll even deliver our green moving boxes to you to take one more stress off your shoulders!

San Francisco

Obviously heading the list for the area with its namesake is San Francisco city itself. With a three-sided view of the water, this peninsula city is second only to New York City in terms of population density. If it’s the fast-paced lifestyle of authentic big city living you crave, then San Francisco is the West Coast’s only destination for you. If there are two things you can count on, they are the opportunity for employment at every corner and a diversity of cuisine that staggers the imagination.

Berkeley

Nestled in the rolling hills of the East Bay area and home to the state university system’s oldest institute, The University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley offers some of the most beautiful views of the bay you’ll likely ever encounter. Although it is a densely populated city, it is a tight-knit community. If you’re looking for a place that you can speak your mind and live in peace, then Berkeley could be your perfect match.

Santa Clara

If you eat, sleep, and breathe technology, then you were born to live in Santa Clara. At the heart of the famous Silicon Valley in the South Bay area, Santa Clara proudly provides headquarters for names such as Intel, NVIDIA, and Sun Microsystems. If you are lucky enough to snag an apartment or condo in this city, you’ll never want for technological thrills again.

Albany

Love landscape views of the city but don’t want to live there? Albany could be your solution. Another city in the East Bay area, Albany offers a somewhat slower-paced approach to life. With regard to education, its school system is one of the best in the country, with a staggering 96 percent of its graduates going on to attend college. It’s a beautiful blend of city, family, and small town living.

Palo Alto

Another peninsula Bay city, Palo Alto offers a little bit of everything. With companies like Facebook and PayPal, among others, basing their headquarters here, it has the technology. With parts of Stanford University, it has the education. With original, older homes, it has the history and suburban feel. Palo Alto may just be the most well-rounded little big city in the Bay.

Are you reaching for the cardboard boxes now with one of these cities as your intended destination? Well, before you go crazy with the cardboard, think about a more convenient—and much greener way t

o move. Plastic moving boxes that are well made are reusable up to 400 time, so there’s no adding to the landfills or using up energy recycling unnecessarily. Just try to use your cardboard boxes 400 times! The best part about plastic moving boxes is that they can be delivered directly to you in most of the Bay area’s cities! So do the right thing and go green.

Along with planting trees and recognizing the fragile state of our planet, it is absolutely vital to look for other ways to save our trees as well. Here is a list of ideas that will help you to practice earth friendly principles on the other 364 days of the year. If we all pull together, we can practice the basic principles of Arbor Day, every day!  

• Opt-out of Junk Mail: Instead of throwing away those unwanted catalogs that come in the mail, take the time to contact the company and opt-out of your subscription. By taking yourself off of the mailing list you’ll be doing your part to reduce the huge amount of junk mail that is delivered on a daily basis.
• Pay Your Bills Online: Join the move towards a paperless society by paying your bills online. Some of us already pay our bills online, but still receive a hard copy in the mail. Call the companies directly and opt-out of paper bills. Many utility companies offer a discount for going paperless. It’s less work for them and greatly helps the environment.
• Make the Switch to e-Books: Now that the i-Pad and Kindle are so readily available, there’s really no reason to purchase hard copies of books. If you absolutely have to read a hard copy, try checking the book out from your public library or borrowing from a friend instead of purchasing new. It will save you money and save the planet at the same time.
• Change Your Search Engine: Google may be the current favorite among web browsers, but Ecocho is gaining popularity among the environmentally concerned. It’s a free search engine, based out of the UK, and committed to saving the earth. For every 1,000 searches that web users make, five trees are planted.
• Plant a Tree for $1: Check out the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and their Plant a Billion Trees Campaign. For every dollar donated, they promise to plant a tree.
• Move Green: Whether you are relocating your family or your entire business, you can help save trees, and our quickly diminishing landfill space, by refusing to use cardboard moving boxes. ZippGo offers a safe and convenient alternative to purchasing cardboard moving boxes. We deliver our reusable green plastic moving boxes right to your door, and then pick them up again when you are finished with them. ZippGo’s plastic moving boxes are made from 100% recycled plastic, and because they are sturdy and reused again and again, they help save the environment as well.

As you can see, with a bit of information, and a little creativity, we can all pull together and work on saving our trees, and our earth, with everything we do, 365 days of the year!

If you have deep roots in the area from which you are moving, then trying to make a strange new place feel like “home” can seem like an exercise in futility. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. No, no place on earth will ever give you the exact same feeling as the place you’ve called home all your life, but there are many things that you can do to create a new homey environment that is just as comforting, albeit different, from the one you knew before.

The Power of the Senses

Have you ever come across an item and thought immediately, “this smells just like Grandma”? The power of our senses is truly amazing with regard to how we associate them with different memories and experiences in our lives. A certain song playing on the radio may bring warm memories of baking with your mom. A particular hue of some color could send you back in time to a play date you enjoyed with a beloved friend. If you’ll use this phenomenon to your advantage, you can create a warm, inviting, comforting environment in your new home in no time.

If the smell of cinnamon, for example, reminds you of home, then try setting out some cinnamon scented candles. If it just isn’t home to you without roosters adorning the kitchen, then incorporate some into your new design. Whatever you find comforting and homey, use it to add character to your new place.

Make it Yours

As an extension on using your senses, decorate your new home to your personality. If you despise the color yellow and every bedroom in the house just happens to be that color, then get out the paint and have a ball. Hang your most treasure pictures on the walls and arrange your collectibles and knick knacks to your liking. If you have an heirloom quilt, why not take it out of storage and use it on your bed for a while? It will do you much more good to give you a feeling of home that way, and that is probably the way whoever crafted it would have wanted it to be used anyway—not packed up in some box. Ultimately, it all comes down to giving your new place your own personal touch. Before you know it, it will be far more than just a residence—it will be home.

Simplify Your Move

If you are looking for ways to help simplify your move, how about eliminating those 150 cardboard moving boxes? Yep, that’s right! Your San Francisco area move can be even more stress free when you use our environmentally friendly, green moving boxes. They are made from recycled plastic, sturdy, and you won’t have to worry about disposing of them after your move. We will deliver them and pick them up. Give us a call today. You’ll be glad you did!

Embrace the Community

No one is ever going to feel like a new house is “home” if they just move in to a building and live like hermits. Get out there and explore the town. The kids will love getting to see everything the new place has to offer, and chances are you’ll have a pretty good time too. Scope out the area for restaurants and make a point to try out several throughout the day; one for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner. Hey, kids love eating out, so this could be an excellent way to loosen them up and encourage them to open their minds to everything else you’ll discover that day.

In between your ceremonious meals, explore the family activities available in the area. You might even get some good ideas from the people you’ll meet at the different restaurants. Check out the local park to see what it has to offer. Find out where the local movie theater is. You may even want to finish the day off by stopping there. Get a feel for the shopping scene. This will be particularly important if you have teenage children so that they can see that there is life here after all.

Emphasize Family Time

Exploring the community is fun and exciting for all, but nothing is more important than reinforcing the closeness of family. When you keep your family functioning as a tightly knit unit, your children will be better able to adjust to everything around them because they’ll have the security of knowing that no matter where they are, you all love each other and will always be there for each other.

In order to create this closeness, you have to go a little bit beyond just telling your kids you love them. You’ll have to show it by spending time with them. This can be really difficult to do with all the craziness of the move, but making a point to have a game night on a set day of the week and making sure to sit down together for dinner can have some really incredible benefits for your kids. Besides, you need a break too, and taking a little time just to enjoy life will help everyone feel more balanced during this transistion.

Moving is stressful enough, don’t make it worse on yourself by lugging around unnecessary stuff for no reason. How should you decide what gets to stay, and what you have to leave behind? The answer is simple. Follow the tips below, and before you know it, you’ll be clutter free and able to start anew.

Get Your Mind Right Before Tackling The Task

No doubt, it is a huge undertaking to go through all of your worldly possessions in an attempt to flesh out only what you need to move with. This is even more the case if you have a huge house, with an attic, multiple wardrobes, or a multi-car garage.

Don't let your home get this unorganized!

So, acknowledge that it’s going to be stressful, and work through it a bit at a time. When you’re doing it, be completely focused on the task at hand, but also acknowledge that you are going to be attached to some things, and that’s OK. That said however, you really need to think about a process like this logically and not emotionally as much as possible.

Set The Rules Of The Game

Any good game has a system of simple rules, and this is no different. You’re going to end up with a “yes” pile and a “no” pile, but you need to be clear on the criteria that need to be met for an object to go into a specific place.

For example:

• If it still has tags on it, or is unopened but covered in dust, you probably aren’t going to get around to changing that any time soon, and it’s OK to let that go.
• If you can’t fit into it, it’s OK to not take it with you.
• If you haven’t worn it or used it in a year (or since college) , are you really ever going to wear or use it again?
• If it’s broken, throw it away, don’t think about the “someday” when you want to fix it
• If you have multiples of it, get rid of at least one.
• If it’s a big object like a car, washing machine, or TV, think about whether or not it might be cheaper to just sell what you have and get a replacement when you get to your new destination.
• If it has sentimental value to you, keep it, but really think about the definition of sentimental value, so that you end up keeping truly meaningful things, and not just “neat junk.”

Work In A System

As mentioned above, this process can be overwhelming on many levels physically and emotionally. Start as soon as you can, and try to breakdown your house into individual areas and tackle them one at a time.

Don’t rush through this process, and try to cram the attic, basement, kids’ rooms and etc into one go-round, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Chances are, if you do this alone, and all at once It will not end well, in fact everyone will probably just end up cranky and frustrated, staring at all the stuff that’s still clogging up your lives.
Remember The Saying About One Man’s Trash…

Consider that just because you’re getting rid of things, it doesn’t mean that you can’t benefit from it. Things can be sold, sometimes for quite a tidy sum on sites like http://craigslist.org or http://ebay.com or you can have an old fashioned garage sale.

Getting a monetary reward from selling the valuables you don’t need to haul along with you may provide just enough motivation to tear through your place in a way you wouldn’t usually. Also consider making a charitable donation. No matter your situation, many families are less fortunate, and things like toys, games, clothing, shoes and furniture can make a huge difference in someone’s life. Such donations are also often tax deductible.

No matter how you approach your need to deeply de-clutter your surroundings in preparation for a move, just think about the opportunity as an open door for a new start. Don’t be afraid to let go of unnecessary “stuff.”

If you’re especially environmentally conscious and worry about the impact of the usual cardboard boxes used for the moving process, know that we can help you out with a green storage alternative. Our plastic moving boxes are zero waste and our unique service is incredibly easy and convenient to use. Give us a call! You’ll be glad you did.

If you are considering a move, you’re not alone. Nearly 15% of the US population moves every year.  Here are the top 5 reasons that might mean it’s time to make a call to your local real estate agent:

Needing More Space

Let’s face it. We get new things all the time. As family needs grow and change, we may need more space than our current home can provide. Many homes are designed with a lot of wasted space, so moving to a newer, more efficient home will help you make the most of what you’ve got, and may even leave room for the changes you may face over the next few years.

Getting Married

If you’re planning on getting married, one or both of you will need to change your address. Although moves are known to be stressful, relocating because of such a happy occasion usually raises adrenalin levels, excitement, and feelings of contentedness. Moving because of marriage should be a relatively low stress occasion.

A New Baby

If you’re expanding your family, sometimes there’s not enough room to live comfortably when the bundle of joy arrives. Moving into a new home with more space will help accommodate your new family member and will keep your family busy until the big day. When you move to a new place, you can look forward to decorating the baby’s nursery, and as the child grows, the nursery can grow and adapt into a bedroom or playroom.

A New Career

If you’ve recently landed a new job, especially if you’ve transferred to another city or state, you’re obviously going to have to move. Being closer to work will save you money over the long run in terms of fuel, wear and tear on your vehicle, or other transportation costs so you can make the most of your new salary.

Retirement

As you enter your golden years, there are numerous things to take into consideration. You may not need the space for your children, as you once did. If you’ve tucked away a nice nest egg, your golden years are often a time of reward and leisure. A smaller space, somewhere warm and tropical, may be just the ticket. Many retirement communities or condo associations have all expenses included rental agreements, and even provide help for those with limited mobility.

Are you moving for any of these reasons? Moving the traditional way puts an unbelievable amount of trash and other waste into our landfills which are harmful to the planet. Why waste time and money on cardboard boxes and tape that you’re just going throw away when you move into your new place? Instead, consider getting green plastic moving boxes from us at ZippGo. We’ll deliver them to you and pick them up from your new address so you don’t have to worry about it. With ZippGo, moving can be a streamlined, pleasant experience all the way around!

At ZippGo, we believe in win/win situations! Call us before your big move, and let us guide you in the right direction!

Claim Your New Home Town

There was once a time that any new member of the community would be greeted by the neighbors with offerings of baked goods and warm welcomes. Sadly, today’s busy lifestyles seem to have made that tradition all but extinct. So, rather than sitting around waiting for the community to come to you, get out there and get involved in the community. Do some searching into the different types of charity and volunteer organizations to see if there is one that you may enjoy participating in. If there is, go and introduce yourself. They’ll be thrilled to have the extra help and you’ll likely make some great new friends.

Get familiar and comfortable with your new surroundings by exploring the town. Learn where the local grocery store is and make it a point to shop there rather than making a run to one of the bigger national chains. Find out if there is a local coffee shop or book nook where you can go to relax and get to know people. If you enjoy fitness and sports, check out what programs are available. You may find a weekly kickboxing class or a community golf course. Or, if you enjoy being crafty, look into calligraphy classes or sewing groups.

The point is that it is up to you to create your own adventure. Even the smallest of towns will have something to offer if you’ll only look. Visit the local chamber of commerce and make some rounds to the small businesses in the area. This is where you can find the best information about upcoming community events and groups that may interest you. Most people will be more than willing to point you in the right direction if you simply introduce yourself, explain that you are new to the neighborhood, and tell them you are really excited to get involved with the community.

Don’t worry so much about people viewing you as an “outsider” or what not. That mentality is very rare these days as most communities are made up of people from all over the country. Chances are that at least half of the new people you’ll meet are not natives of the area themselves. The people who are natives are generally accustomed to having new people move in and relish the opportunity to share their own story of living in the area. So go ahead and get out there—there is no time like the present!

First, I can tell you what not to do. Don’t be so naïve to think that everything will just fall together all on its own the day the moving trucks arrive. Those trinkets are not going to neatly wrap themselves and jump in your moving boxes all on their own. Neither will anything else in your home, except perhaps your dog which will be the one thing that doesn’t need to go in a box. You must organize this shindig if you want to come out on top.

Don't move like this!

Moving the Right Way…Without Stress

• Start by making a list by rooms. Decide which rooms of your new home will house specific items from your old one. Are you splitting a shared bedroom or combining two into one? Are there items you need to get rid of? Put it all on paper and make a plan.
• Start packing now. You do not need your summer wardrobe hanging in your closet in the dead of winter, so go ahead and get it in your moving containers. Any non-essentials like books, DVDs, knick-knacks, and framed pictures can be packed and ready to go days, or even a couple of weeks before the move.
• Label your moving boxes by the room their contents are destined for first, and then with a brief description of what each box contains. This way you’ll know exactly which room to take the box to when you arrive and you won’t have to unpack 10 different boxes to find your silverware (Tip: ZippGo provides box labels made from 100% post consumer recycled paper free with every order).
• Pace yourself and take breaks. If you start early and make steady progress then you will get everything done in time. Don’t try to reduce the entire contents of your home into 50 neat moving containers in one single day. Set a goal for each day leading up to the move and stop when you’ve met it.

The Business of Boxes

That all sounds well and good, but where are you going to find 50 moving boxes just like that? Well, ZippGo can not only bring plastic moving boxes to your door, but they also keep you feeling good because your move doesn’t sap the environment of its precious resources. Every ZippGo moving crate is made from recycled plastic and we are in the “reuse” business. Our clean, sanitary, environmentally friendly plastic moving boxes are used and reused more than 500 times. You pack and move, then ZippGo will come and get the containers when you are finished. Talk about stress free! Call us today for more details on a stress free move. You’ll be glad you did.