I found this very cool Vancouver, Ca. based moving company called Frogbox today. It’s a self-proclaimed green moving company promoting “sustainable” living. Frogbox was started by Doug Burgoyne who, after moving between North American cities several times, thought it was a waste to use cardboard every time he had to move, so last June he started Frogbox.

Frogbox

The company delivers plastic green tote boxes to customers in Vancouver who use them as an alternative to cardboard boxes. Frogbox then picks up the totes when the customer is done moving. Burgoyne says his totes can be reused on average about 500 times and he expects them to endure for about 5 years, at which point they can be recycled locally.

Cardboard and paper waste make up an estimated 18 to 26% of landfill material, making the plastic containers more convenient, affordable, and eco-friendly. The company just completed a life-cycle assessment of corrugated cardboard vs. high-density polyethylene (used to make the totes). They figured, when factoring in manufacturing and recycling emissions, using a plastic box is ten times more efficient than cardboard boxes.

They also claim the plastic totes are easily recyclable and far cleaner than recycling cardboard since it requires tons of water to recycle paper and cardboard. They do use trucks to deliver the totes, but the trucks use biodiesel. To make sure valuables are packed properly Frogbox sells recycled paper sheets that are then re-recycled.

As part of Frogbox’s dedication to the environment, they also donate 1% of gross revenues to frog habitat restoration. But why frogs? Burgoyne has stated that frogs are a barometer species meaning, if something goes wrong in a habitat, frogs are the first ones to suffer, so they’re very helpful to scientists. That’s where the name comes from and I must say, it’s pretty catchy.