Often, when businesses or homeowners arrange for dumpster rental in San Francisco, they are somewhat pressed for time. They have a lot of junk to get rid of and only a short period in which to get rid of it. For instance, a business preparing to move to a new office location might rent a bin so that it can quickly dispose of desk clutter, unwanted furniture, old computer equipment, excess paper waste, cardboard shipping boxes, and more. Dumpster rentals are also common in home renovations when construction teams need to rip out drywall, flooring, carpeting, and other building materials to make way for the new.

Unfortunately, this time-sensitive approach to waste disposal does not promote good sustainable activity. Because of convenience, everything goes into the dumpster. No one spares much thought for recycling, even if a lot of what is being thrown away—from paper products to plastic refuse to metal building materials—is technically recyclable.

What Happens to Most Dumpster Refuse?

Most companies, as you might expect, are also not very concerned with recycling. They rent dumpsters as a quick, spacious, and convenient way for customers to clear out their junk. When a bin gets full, the waste removal company comes and picks it up, usually transporting the waste to the nearest landfill. Just like that, a vast amount of recyclable material ends up wasted and taking up space in landfills, instead of being repurposed for a different application.

It’s tough to fault dumpster rental providers for how they do business. While some businesses do offer recycling bins and trash bins, most companies looking for a dumpster rental just want one large bin where they can dispose of everything. It’s simpler, easier for everyone to remember, and costs less—and while rental companies could potentially sort through their collections and pull out recyclables, doing so is a time-consuming process. To maximize profits and get the most out of their staff, companies just take everything to the landfill.

An Alternative: A “Green” Dumpster Rental

At Junk King, we pride ourselves on being “America’s Greenest Junk Removal Service.” When it comes to dumpster rentals, we wanted businesses to have a third option, between “Throw everything in the trash” and “Pay twice as much for a trash dumpster and a recycling dumpster.” We realized that if there was ever going to be a competitive green waste disposal rental option, it had to be just as easy and affordable for customers as the non-green options were. The burden of staying green, in other words, had to fall on our shoulders instead of on our customers.

The service we offer today is the realization of that vision. Instead of taking everything to the landfill after picking up your full container, we take each dumpster to our recycling warehouse. There, we carefully sort through the trash, looking for recyclable materials that don’t belong in landfills. Metals, paper, furniture, appliances, clothing and textiles, computers and other e-waste, and more: these types of items or materials still have value and use. Some can be sent to recycling plants, while others can be cleaned up and donated to organizations that need them. By pulling these valuable goods out of the dumpsters and saving them from the landfill, Junk King does its part in protecting the environment.

Junk King doesn’t even use machines to automate the sorting process. Recyclable and reusable goods come in all different materials, shapes, and sizes. No machine on the planet can adequately identify what is and isn’t junk. Instead, Junk King personnel are responsible for sifting through dumpsters and saving treasures from oblivion. This human touch ensures the best sorting possible and guarantees that we send only actual “junk” to the junkyard.

Cutting Down America’s Waste Numbers

The United States is famous for its wastefulness. While people in the United States account for just 5% of the world’s total population, we also generate approximately one-third of the world’s total garbage. That statistic is bewildering enough as is, but some of the stats that hide within it are even more alarming.

Consider this: roughly half of the “garbage” that Americans throw away daily could be recycled, reused, or repurposed. Glass and plastic bottles; lengths of aluminum foil; cardboard boxes and other packaging; paper from work projects, school assignments, newspapers, magazines, and more. These materials frequently end up in the trash but would be far better used by going to recycling plants.

The waste adds up, too. Every three months, Americans junk enough aluminum to rebuild our nation’s entire commercial air fleet from the ground up. The other statistics and facts are just as shocking.

Going Green

The good news is that many businesses are waking up to just how much waste we are producing—and just how much that waste is impacting the environment. A slew of household name brands have made sustainability a core priority. Dell uses recycled materials in its computers and product packaging. The New Belgium Brewing Company reuses, recycles, or composts 75% of the waste it produces. Also, roughly 75% of the materials that Patagonia uses for its clothing and outdoor equipment is either recycled or organically sourced.

These initiatives aren’t happening in a vacuum. While many businesses are probably focusing on recycling and overall sustainability because they believe it is the right thing to do, there is also an economic factor at work. Thanks to the Internet, business practices are widely reported, shared, and discussed. Social media is incredibly effective at unmasking and exposing companies that rely on environmentally destructive or otherwise unsustainable methods. Many consumers are now learning how to vote with their dollars, turning away from these brands and instead opting for the ones that make sustainability a priority.

For businesses, the positive PR boost of sustainable initiatives should be enough to launch a green initiative. Obviously, these initiatives take time to devise and get underway. However, something as simple as choosing a green dumpster rental instead of a landfill-bound one is an easy and smart place to start. For home renovators or other consumers who don’t have brand optics to worry about, meanwhile, going green is merely a way to put their money where their mouth is and do what they are demanding brands to do.

Arrange Green Dumpster Rental in San Francisco

Whether you are clearing out an office building, renovating a home or in the middle of a major construction or property development project, you are probably producing plenty of waste daily. You need somewhere to put it, which usually means a dumpster rental. If, however, you’re looking for a more sustainable option than just sending everything—paper, plastic, construction materials, e-waste, and all—to the landfill, there are other options.

At Junk King, we are proud to offer the greenest dumpster rental in San Francisco. We recycle more than our competitors without charging an arm and a leg, and customers in the area are starting to catch on. It doesn’t matter if you run a business with a well-established sustainability policy or are just a standalone homeowner in need of a convenient waste disposal service. We can help you clear out your clutter faster while also doing your part to protect the environment. If you are interested in learning more about our green dumpster rentals, or arranging one for your home, business, or worksite, visit the Junk King website and fill out our contact form.