Pajama Entrepreneur

ZippGo is a company started in November 2009 in San Francisco. ZippGo rents reusable moving boxes made from 100 percent recycled plastic for home and office moves. They deliver the boxes to you and pick them up when you’re done. Very convenient. ZippGo’s goals are to simplify the moving process, make packing simpler, make getting boxes convenient, and make moving a waste-free process instead of the wasteful one it currently is.

ZippGo calls itself The Green Moving Box. In addition to renting moving boxes, they sell:

• Geami, an innovative and environmentally friendly bubble wrap equivalent made from a 100% recyclable kraft paper. Geami is a recyclable, compostable, and renewably sourced packing material. It is made using a patented process that die cuts the paper giving it cushioning properties to protect your delicate belongings during the move.
• Cushion Cubes: made from 100% recyclable paper fibers, Cushion Cubes offer alternative to petroleum-based packaging materials.

I am very impressed by this service because I have moved many times in my life and I am appalled by the wastefulness of those cardboard boxes. Haven’t you seen these boxes stacked up on a street outside an apartment building after the new tenants have just moved in? Think of the millions of people who move every year generating so much waste. After all these years, nobody I know has come up with something more eco-friendly. So, I am thrilled to see someone set up a business like ZippGo.

Q&A with Ash Sud, founder of Zippgo

What is your background and what was the inspiration for ZippGo?

The concept behind ZippGo was born intuitively while I was managing an award winning organic grocery home delivery company I founded in 2001. My company used reusable green plastic boxes to deliver organic fruits and vegetables to homes and businesses around the San Francisco Bay Area. We reused these boxes over and over again nearly 400 times a piece.

During this time, I moved residences a couple of times and found that using the same green boxes was an excellent solution in which to pack my belongings, and use to transport to my new home. After I merged the company with another organic home delivery company in 2008, I was making a move to another apartment just 3 blocks away in San Francisco and because I no longer had access to the green boxes, I was forced to buy cardboard boxes.

After the move was complete and the boxes empty, I had the daunting task of breaking down 100 cardboard boxes and then figuring out how to get them out of my apartment. I didn’t feel right having to throw away new cardboard boxes after using them only once, and I was sure other people felt the same way.

Is ZippGo self-funded?

Yes.

Where do you see ZippGo in a year?

Our customers in San Francisco love our reusable moving boxes and are becoming evangelists for our products. They’ve told us the ZippGo boxes made their move so much easier and faster, and will absolutely use us again.

We are growing quickly through positive word of mouth. We are currently working on adding new sizes of reusable moving boxes to our line up, along with additional sustainable packing materials. We have plans to expand the ZippGo concept to other states around the US including Florida, New York, Washington, and Texas either through company owned locations or through franchises. We are looking for passionate partners who are committed to helping people move green.