Posts Tagged ‘moving boxes’

Urban Living? You Don’t Have to Give Up Your Garden

Monday, March 21st, 2011

The San Francisco Bay area is well known for many things, its mild climate being one of them. One of the things that draws so many people to this area is the fact that there is a relatively predictable weather that is pleasant and nearly perfect. It makes an excellent catalyst for gardens of both the floral and vegetable variety. However, if you are living in the city, planting a garden in the parking lot of your apartment is simply not a viable option—and the local authorities would probably have quite a few things to say if you tried.

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!

Top 5 Places To Live In The Bay Area

Friday, February 25th, 2011

San Francisco Bay is home to dozens of beautiful cities with incredible living potential. With cherished landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge in the North Bay area and the technological cutting edge Silicon Valley in the South Bay area, there’s no denying that this little slice of California offers a world of diversity and culture. Whether you’re a native Bay resident looking for a change of pace or an East Coast soon-to-be import, it’s worth taking a few moments to explore the Bay’s top 5 cities before you commit to your move.

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.

You Don’t Have to Wait Until Arbor Day to Save a Tree

Friday, February 18th, 2011

Arbor Day, the brain child of Julius Morton, started back in 1872. Created to raise awareness of the importance of trees, the day is also associated with saving and protecting the earth. California’s Arbor Day is celebrated in early March, and with the California Red Wood as our state tree, Arbor Day is a pretty big deal.

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!  arbor day hat

  • 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!

Top 5 Reasons People Move

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

We all dream of moving into a home and being able to stay in the same place for years, if not all of our adult lives. Visions of raising our children at the same address, planting a garden, doing home projects, decorating for the holidays, and watching our families grow up are at the base of our culture and part of the American dream.

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 zippgo moving boxes

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!

Stress Free Moving – Here’s How

Thursday, December 16th, 2010

If you have never faced the major task of moving from one home to another, you are likely to be in for a rude awakening. I’ve moved several times in my life, each time with more collected stuff than the last, and I’ve gotta tell you if I never have to do it again it will be too soon. Did you know that moving is one of the top 10 major stressors people have to contend with? Yeah, it’s right up there with marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a loved one, and a major shift in careers. So how do you stay sane during this transition?

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.

moving stress

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.