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Taking care of our planet is important. This is our only home, and if we don’t protect the environment, we’re going to quickly find ourselves in trouble. Junk King Dayton makes the environment one of our priorities. We help take care of our planet in two ways. We help reduce the amount of new materials we need by focusing on recycling, and we help reduce how much goes into the landfill by donating items that are in good condition.
Why do we focus on diverting things away from the landfill? While we do manage landfills better by crushing debris and carefully monitoring what goes into the dump, we’re still using up a large amount of land for trash. Landfills, on average, take up 600 acres each, and the U.S. has over 3,000 of them across the country. That’s a good amount of land we’ve dedicated to trash.
Landfills do more than just take up usable space, though. They are also major contributors to climate change. When organic waste breaks down, it releases methane gas, one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Landfills are full of this type of waste, leading to the creation of smog and damage to the atmosphere. It’s also possible for waste to leak into the soil, causing the earth and any nearby water sources to become contaminated.
These are just a few reasons why Junk King Dayton is dedicated to doing what we can do to protect the environment. We would like to share with you in more detail how we divert waste from the landfill and what our goals are.
What is Waste Diversion?
The foundation of what we do is waste diversion. If we can achieve total waste diversion, nothing will go into the landfill and all waste will either be reused in some way or recycled. This is a big task, of course, and it’s not going to happen overnight. It’s going to take the coordinated efforts of governments, companies, and individuals for us to reach the zero waste point. However, companies such as Microsoft have set goals for becoming zero-waste organizations, which is the first step.
Diverting waste through recycling and repurposing items will allow the current landfills to hold more waste. This will help reduce the need for new landfills, which take up more usable land. Eventually, when more and more companies and people do reach zero waste, we may be able to close some landfills. Ideally, we will eventually divert all our waste to other streams, eliminating the need for landfills completely.
Sound like a pipe dream? It’s not going to be easy, and it’s going to take a lot of work from a lot of people. However, we do believe it’s possible. That’s why we focus on two of the “3Rs” of recycling—reusing and recycling.
Reusing or Repurposing
The first way to divert junk from the landfill is to donate it or repurpose it. While we don’t do a lot of repurposing, we do donate as much as we can. When we pick up junk, we often see furniture that’s still in pretty good condition and even appliances that work. Often, this comes from customers who have recently bought new furniture or upgraded their appliances. No one wanted the old stuff, so they gave us a call.
If we see sofas, chairs, tables, desks, or any other furniture that’s in good condition, we will donate it to one of the local charities or resell shops that we work with. We can’t donate everything, of course. The furniture has to be in good condition. It can’t be broken or have any major rips or stains on it. If it has a little bit of a stain or other superficial damage, it can likely be donated. We will check all furniture before we donate it to make sure it’s in acceptable condition. We will also check appliances to see if they still work. If they do, they can usually be donated as well.
What do these local organizations do with the items we donate to them? Some work directly with those in need to make sure they have furniture and other items. Other organizations operate halfway houses and other facilities and are in need of items. Some are resell shops that help those on limited incomes purchase necessary items.
Recycling
Thanks to various recycling initiatives and programs, including the City of Dayton’s recycling services, more and more people are recycling now than ever. New technology has increased the number of materials we can recycle, too, further helping reduce the amount of waste that goes into the landfill. In 2017, nearly a million tons of waste were redirected to recycling facilities. That seems like a great amount, but overall, the U.S. contributed over 267 million tons of garbage to landfills. We still have a long way to go before we reach zero waste.
Junk King will sort out recyclable materials from what we pick up, both in our trucks and in our rental dumpsters. We then pass these materials on to one of our local recycling partners. We do try to pull out everything that can be recycled, including electronic waste. The amount of precious metals that go into phones, computers, televisions, and other electronics is quite considerable, so it’s important that as much of it as possible gets recycled.
This also helps reduce the costs of things made with these metals. There is over $60 billion dollars’ worth of precious metals, including gold, tossed into the landfill every year. That’s a massive amount of money and materials. It’s estimated that people around the globe throw away around ten percent of the total amount of gold mined every year. Eventually, we will run out of this metal if we don’t start recycling as much of it as possible.
In addition to recycling basic materials such as paper and cardboard, we also work with various recycling centers to recycle appliances, furniture, mattresses, and other items. Many of these things can be fully recycled or have components that can be removed and recycled. We will work with the various recycling companies in and around Dayton to remove and recycle as many of these components as we can.
The Third R: Reducing
Our reusing and recycling programs do impact the third component of the diversion process, reducing. By donating items that are still in usable condition, fewer new items need to be produced. This helps reduce the amount of new materials needed and the amount of waste that goes into the landfill. We also do our best to reduce the waste we create as a business, further limiting our impact on the environment.
What Will Junk King Dayton Take?
Whether you’re renting one of our dumpsters or calling us for junk hauling, we can accept a wide variety of items. Most people call us for large furniture or appliances, but we can also help you with debris. Whether it’s downed limbs and damaged fencing from a storm or debris from a DIY project, it can go in our truck. We help people remove old decks, busted-up sheds, damaged patios, and much more. We’ll take away your old kitchen cabinets or carpet from your DIY remodel just as easily as we can haul off a broken refrigerator, old sofa, or television.
While we can take most everything, we cannot deal with hazardous waste. If you have any questions about what we can or cannot take, please give us a call.
We Work with Residents and Businesses
While we do a lot of work with homeowners and renters, we also work with businesses, landlords, and even real estate agents. We can assist with small jobs, but we can also clean out entire homes. We’ve worked with people who have inherited houses full of stuff or are trying to help those with hoarding. We work with businesses to clean out old locations, purge old inventory, and get rid of debris and other junk during a remodel.
No matter what project you have, the process is the same. You start by reaching out to us via phone, text, or online. We will discuss the project and, if possible, give you a ballpark quote. For some things, such as picking up a few basic pieces of furniture, this initial quote will be fairly accurate. For others, such as hauling away everything in the house, we will need to do an in-person estimate. We always do a final in-person quote before we start so you know the exact cost. There are never any hidden fees, nor is there any obligation or cost for an estimate.
Work with Junk King Dayton and Protect the Environment
If you’re looking for more ways to go green and protect the environment, working with a junk hauling company that diverts as much as possible from the landfill should be on your list. We will donate or recycle as much as possible, and we often are able to redirect over 60 percent of every truckload away from the dump. Contact us today at 1-888-888-JUNK or via text at 1-737-888-5865.
