Month: August 2017

Opening a messy closet can really steal the joy out of getting ready in the morning. You have to fight through hangers of unsorted clothing, dig for matching shoes, and slog through racks of sweaters and shirts just to start your day. It’s exhausting.

Can you believe that opening your closet doors can actually create joy? It can, with an organized approach. And who wouldn’t want to start their day that way? Here are a dozen tips from 123JUNK that can help organize your closet—and brighten your day.

12 Tips for Organizing Your Closet

1. Hang your clothes by style and season. Divide your clothing by season, and then hang like items together, like pants, long-sleeved or short-sleeved shirts, or skirts. It will be easy to spot what fits the weather and the mood.
2. Color code your clothing. Take organization to the next level by arranging your clothing by color, from light to dark.
3. Store out-of-season clothes. Instead of cramming all your clothing in, move out-of-season items to another closet or storage boxes.
4. Stack clear boxes. Clear boxes allow you to sort and display items for quick access. Use them not only for shoes, but for belts, hats, scarves, jewelry and other accessories.
5. Use hooks or pegboards. Hang items like purses, belts and jewelry on hooks or pegboards mounted inside your closet.
6. Get a closet organizer system. If your closet has only one bar, consider a closet organizing system that allows you to customize double hanging rows for shorter items, longer rows for dresses and suits, and shelves, drawers and cubbies.
7. Get good hangers. Use thin-profile, velvet-covered hangers to provide clothing security (they don’t slip off) and create additional hanging space.
8. Use shelf dividers. Keep stacks of sweaters from toppling over with shelf dividers.
9. Use creative storage. Add an armoire with shelves to your bedroom to hold folded items like sweaters or workout clothing. Use baskets on shelves to catch smaller items.
10. Keep toys low. For children’s closets, include several drawered bins or covered baskets on the floor to hold toys.
11. Use the door. An over-to-door shoe rack behind the door utilizes otherwise-unused space to provide easy access to the most-often worn shoes. Or, install racks or hooks for gear or accessories behind the door.
12. Eliminate clutter. Each season, as you change out your clothing, purge items that are worn or unused. Donate them to a local charity.

Call the Experts–123JUNK

When you’re ready to donate, call 123JUNK. We partner with a number of charities in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. who recycle your unwanted items to families who can use them.

123JUNK is proud to announce a new charitable partnership with No One Left Behind (NOLB). The mission of NOLB is to assist Afghan and Iraqi combat interpreters to obtain Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs), and help them resettle into the United States, get a green card and eventually become citizens.

The 301(c)(3) organization was founded by Matt Zeller who drew his inspiration from the interpreter directly responsible for saving his own life from two Taliban soldiers. Once the Taliban heard that this interpreter had helped Zeller, they began to assault him and his family with threats of terrible death. Zeller worked hard to bring this interpreter to the U.S. and help with resettlement in terms of finding a job, housing and cultural adaptation assistance.

“These combat interpreters put their lives, and those of their families, on the line every day to assist U.S. troops on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, sometimes for 10 or 12 years,” explained Keith Saddler, DC Chapter President and member of the NOLB Board of Directors.

NOLB’s mission is to support the interpreters, soldiers, cultural advisors and other allies of American troops who have been displaced from their homes due to their association and support to Americans to ensure that America treats its wartime allies as the heroes and veterans they are.

“As an organization, we’re trying to propose legislation to Congress to continue this SIV program that they are trying to cut back on,” Saddler said. “There are roughly 8,000 Afghan interpreters waiting to get out of the country, and our State Department is offering fewer and fewer visas each year.”

“We made a moral commitment to these interpreters when they signed up to do the job that they would be taken care of by the U.S. government if their safety was ever threatened by the Taliban or Isis.”

Working Together with 123JUNK

123JUNK reached out to NOLB to see how it could help and soon it was determined that the household furnishings picked up by 123JUNK on its rounds could be repurposed into new lives within the Afghan communities found locally, mainly in Alexandria, Woodbridge and Hyattsville.

“Every Saturday, we take a volunteer crew to the facilities where 123JUNK places their donated items, pick up what we think we can use, load the items into our rented truck, and drive them directly to these Afghan communities to help furnish the homes of our new arrivals,” Saddler said. “We do not sell the items, everything is purely donated.”

“I’ve never met an organization that puts their social conscience ahead of profit like 123JUNK,” Saddler explained. “They use their own manpower and time to segregate out the good items and make them available to us as part of their mission to give back to the community.”

How You Can Help NOLB

No One Left Behind can truly use monetary donations. “We need about $5 million to do this right for these people who put their lives and families at risk for our soldiers,” Saddler said. “And we take very, very little to run our volunteer-run organization. About 90 cents of every dollar goes directly to the people who need it.”

If you’d like to help, please contact NOLB online at www.nooneleft.org.

When you see a big red 123JUNK Truck, either driving down the road or parked at a job site, take a moment to notice just how clean it is. You may not think of a truck in the junk business as being clean, however, we don’t think like everyone else. To us, a clean truck is EXACTLY what we stand for.

We’re adamant about keeping our trucks clean because our business goes beyond just what’s on the outside. Having a respectable truck has a trickle-down effect in every other area of our business. It is representative of us being a white-collar junk removal business in a blue-collar industry.

We found that if the truck has trash in the cab, like candy or food wrappers, the people who work in it are less likely to have respect for it. And this attitude can carry over into other areas of the business, from the inventory we need on the job, to sloppy uniforms, to the level of respect we have for a client’s home or business.

We don’t want that attitude among our employees, so every weeknight, we clear out and vacuum the cabs and fill our trucks with fuel. And once a week, wash each truck all over. It’s a matter of crossing the “t’s” and dotting the “i’s,” and is just one of the things that sets 123JUNK apart.

The truck sends a representative message that is greater than a clean truck. We believe that if the truck isn’t clean, it is representative of a business model that is in disarray. That attention to detail speaks volumes about how we do business and how we’ll succeed long into the future.

It all starts with the truck!

It’s that time of year again where 123JUNK is recruiting pullers on our team for the annual Dulles Day Plane Pull. This is our 6^th consecutive year participating in this great event held Saturday, September 23, 2017.

123JUNK Dulles Day Plane Pull Video

This year, 123JUNK is pitted against a 164,000-pound jumbo jet to raise money for Special Olympics Virginia. You can either join our team of pullers (you get a free T-shirt!), or come and cheer us on from the sidelines as we put our heart and soul into pulling the Airbus A320 for twelve feet as fast as we can, while being timed.

Since we’ve been involved, the number of competing pull teams has ranged from 70 to 120. 123JUNK has done well in this event, usually placing in the Top 15 teams. In our best year, we finished 6^th! But we still have our eyes on the Chesapeake Sherriff’s Office—the 13-time defending champions. Maybe this year, we’ll take them down!

Awards are handed out for the fasted full, the heaviest team, the lightest team, the most money raised, the most enthusiastic team, and much, much more. The event is free to attend, and there is so much more to see and do—a plane show, a car show, aircraft tours, a police and SWAT vehicle display, live music, food, and more. There is something for the entire family.

123JUNK Kid’s Truck Pull

123JUNK also participates by supplying a shiny red dump truck for the Kid’s Truck Pull. See which team pulls the truck 12 feet the fastest! We’re also looking for volunteers to help here. The Kid’s Zone features a bounce house, games, music and a dunk tank—fun all day.

Help 123JUNK Raise Money for Special Olympics Virginia

Although there is no fee to attend the Dulles Day Plane Pull, our goal is to ultimately raise money for Special Olympics Virginia. This year our target goal is $3,000. If you cannot make it to the event, kindly considering donating. All proceeds go towards Special Olympics. Come out and join us!