Tag Archives: garbage removal

Construction Debris Recycling

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Back in the old days most, if not all, construction debris was sent to the landfill. And the old days aren’t that old. Sending construction debris directly to the landfill was a pretty regular practice fifteen years ago. Now things are different.

General contractors use hauling services that recycle construction debris on a regular basis. What do these hauling services recycle? Wood can be recycle quite easily into other wood products. Recycled concrete is highly sought after by contractors who turn that concrete into aggregate. Even things like bathroom fixtures are frequently recycled. Items like faucets and fixtures recovered from older homes are often resold to people seeking an antique look in their bathroom or those seeking to restore a home to an original style.

How do you make sure your general contractor recycles? First and foremost ask if your general contractor uses a hauling service that recycles. You can also ask your general contractor to provide recycling receipts from the recycling centers they use to dispose of construction debris. 

Recycling construction debris isn’t just the smart thing to do, it can also save you time and money. Many larger cities are expediting permits and reducing the cost of permits for those who choose to recycle construction debris.

Cleaning Out Your Garage This Summer? Recycle, Don’t Throw Out

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Summer is here and its time to clean out your garage. If your garage is anything like mine you’ve probably got boxes piled to the ceiling and you just want to get rid of that stuff. And if you don’t want to do it there is an entire mini-industry based around garage clean outs (click here to find out more about junk removal and professional garage clean outs).  

But before you start hauling all your garage junk to the garbage STOP. Okay, now that we’ve got your attention, before you throw out the stuff in your garage consider donating to local thrift shops and charities instead. Why?

Donating Unwanted Items Keeps Them Out the Landfill

Donating items can keeps them out of the landfill and gives those items a second (and sometimes third and fourth) life. Less trash in the landfill means a better environment and less trash left behind for our kids and grandkids.

Donating Unwanted Items Helps Charities and Local Stores

Many charities depend on income brought in by associated thrift shops to fund their charitable efforts. Also charity thrift shops often provide dignity and employment to disabled individuals and provide valuable services to your community. 

Donating Unwanted Items Helps You

Donations to charity can provide you with a valuable tax write-off. Make sure you ask for a receipt from your charity.

Be sure you check with your charity of choice or thrift shop of choice before donating. Many charities have rules about what they will and will not except (some don’t take appliances older than a certain date for instance). Also be aware that thrift shops don’t accept paints and other household hazardous materials. You may also want to ask your thrift shop or charity of choice if they have an “Items Wanted List” and no doubt some of the things you’ve cleaned out of your garage are on them.

Disaster Clean Up…

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Natural disasters can strike at any time, during any part of the year. In some cases you may have some warning, in other cases you may have no warning and no time to prepare. Once the immediate danger has passed you are often faced with a daunting task: disaster clean up. 

The most important thing to remember when you are faced with a disaster clean up — whether flood, fire or tornados — is that you are not along. The American Red Cross can provide you help and support during a natural disaster. During major natural disaster you can find aid from FEMA and state governments. 

Your insurance company should be able to refer to a disaster clean up service that can help you clean up and rebuild. Depending on your insurance your insurance company should pay for most of the cost of a disaster clean up.

Be Careful with Your Chemicals

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When you buy paint, or car wax, or a computer you don’t really think of those things as toxic or hazardous. Hazardous materials aren’t sold in stores right? I mean, as long as I don’t go around swallowing paint this stuff can’t hurt me right? 

Items like used paints and cleaners do represent s potential source of harm to our environment. Think of a common scenario. Someone (we won’t say you because you wouldn’t do this) dumps a half gallon of paint down the drain after they’ve finished repainting t a room. That paint will go on to contaminate pipes, sewers, and possibly even drinking water for days or weeks. Motor oil that is just dumped out into the ground goes on to contaminate ground water, harming wildlife and plants. Even a computer that has been improperly disposed of can cause great harm by exposing both animals and people to lead and other contaminates.

So when you are dealing with household hazardous waste be careful. Make sure that you cap and store paints and cleaners properly. Keep them out of the reach of pets and children and away from heat sources that can spark a fire. When it comes time to dispose of these chemicals dispose of them properly.

There are many ways to dispose of household hazardous and e-waste. You can often trade-in small electronics for cash. You can take your household chemicals like cleaners, solvents, and paints to city drop off center or a hazardous waste disposal event. If you have a lot of hazardous materials to dispose of try calling a hauling service that specializes in disposal of household hazardous waste and chemicals.

 

 

What Junk Removal Services Do to Help Our Environment

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Junk removal services sometimes get a bad rep as just guys who throwaway and dispose of junk. But actually junk removal services do more to recycle and keep junk out of our landfill than most waste management companies. How?

Junk removal services recycle junk that would have been dumped in a landfill or worse still dumped on the side of the road. Junk removal services actually provide an alternative to illegal dumping. In major cities across the U.S. people have a tendency just to haul their junk and unwanted items to the nearest curb and leave it. Junk removal services take that junk and haul it away instead. 

Junk removal services recycle junk that is hard to recycle. A junk removal service for instance can recycle an entire mattress. They send the springs to a metal recycler, any wood framing to a wood recycler, and even take the stuffing to a general recycler. They also recycle by giving useable items away to charity. 

Junk removal services are actually the most environmental conscious form of waste management around today.