Month: April 2018

Sunday, April 22, 2018 marks the celebration of Earth Day, or the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement, and 123JUNK is doing its small bit to participate.

Since April 22^nd falls on a Sunday this year, we’ve scheduled our Earth Day activities on Saturday, April 21^st. We’ll be setting up trucks at various locations around Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC for our annual Spring Cleaning Event.  Come out and bring us your household junk!

We’re accepting household items, small furniture, clothing, and most goods except electronics at these locations, unless otherwise noted:

Saturday, April 21 Community Donation locations together with:

Donations and Electronics Recycling Day:

• Keller Williams Realty, 46169 Westlake Drive, #200, Potomac Falls, VA, 9 am – 12 pm

Donations Only:

• Wicker Homes Group, Keller Williams Realty, 43004 Waxpool Road, Ashburn, VA, 9 am – 11 am
• Realtor Thomas Doyle, Real Living at Home Real Estate Group, 4600 N. Park Ave., Chevy Chase, MD, 10 am – 12 pm
• Realtor Tania Hosmer Neighborhood Cleanup Day, Keller Williams Realty, 7809 Grovemont Dr., McLean, VA, 12 pm – 2 pm
• Rob and Brent Group of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty:
• Capitol Quarter: Courtyard by 312 L St SE, Washington, DC, 10 am – 12 pm
• Capitol Hill: SW Corner of Lincoln Park at 11st St. SE and North Carolina Ave., Washington, DC, 10 am – 12 pm
• Logan Circle: 13^th St. NW and Q St. NW, Washington, DC, 10 am – 12 pm
• Potomac Yard: 2300 Main Line Blvd, Alexandria, VA, 10 am – 12 pm

Rebuilding Together Program:

In addition, Kevin Wheeler, Client Relationship Manager of 123JUNK, will be donating his day for the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors’ (GCAAR) Rebuilding Together program that helps renovate homes for underprivileged families.

“In reality, every day is Earth Day for us,” Wheeler said. “We are committed to environmental preservation with everything we do, from having a paperless client experience, to donating as many items as we can to our charity partners and other affiliations. What we cannot donate we first try to deliver to the local recycling facility before disposing of the trash as a final option.”

History of Earth Day

With the publication of Silent Spring in 1962, the New York Times best-selling expose, author Rachel Carson began to raise public awareness of the links between pollution, the environment and public health. But it wasn’t until 1970 that Gaylord Nelson, a US Senator from Wisconsin, created Earth Day after watching the environmental disaster of the 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA.

In the 1970s, times were troubled. War raged in Vietnam, students were protesting, and Americans weren’t aware of the damage their gas-guzzling cars and daily habits were causing to the environment. It was time to put environmental care on the front pages of the news.

Senator Nelson came up with the idea for a “national teach-in” concerning the environment and enlisted Denis Hayes as his national coordinator. Together, they built a national staff to promote events across America, selecting the date of April 22 because it conveniently fell between Spring Break and Final Exams.

On that first Earth Day, more than 20 million Americans rallied, and thousands of universities organized protests, combining forces with organizations already fighting to protect our environment, loss of wilderness and extinction of wildlife.

By the end of 1970, Earth Day had led to the creation of the Environment Protection Agency and passage of the Endangered Species, Clean Air, and Clean Water Acts.

Earth Day Goes Global

In 1990, a group of global leaders sought help in organizing a global Earth Day, and on April 22, more than 200 million people in 141 countries joined the cause. Recycling efforts expanded and a United National Earth Summit was scheduled in 1992. In 1995, President Bill Clinton awarded Senator Nelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his role as the founder of Earth Day.

Please Donate on Earth Day 2018

We hope to see many of you at our Earth Day donation centers, located throughout Northern Virginia, Maryland and DC. And we thank the companies and individuals who sponsor these donation centers. Bring your unwanted items, trash and household furniture and goods. You’ll clean out your house or office while donating to a good cause.

For more information about our Earth Day activities, please contact Kevin Wheeler at 123JUNK.

It’s time to introduce you again to some of the awesome people we have working here at 123JUNK. This time we’re showcasing a pair of brothers who work here: Timmy Anderson and Brian Anderson.

Meet Brian and Timmy Anderson, 123JUNK Inside Sales Representatives

The first to join the 123JUNK team was Brian Anderson (on right) in May 2016. He had been working elsewhere and was seeking a new challenge. “I didn’t foresee working at 123JUNK as a career at the time. I was looking to make a little money and save up for school. I started on the trucks, as everyone does, and within six months I took an office position,” he explained.

Serving now in the position of Inside Sales and Client Account Representative, Brian talks about his favorite part of working here. “It doesn’t feel like a regular company; it feels more like a brotherhood. We are all friends and we all get along well. And some days it doesn’t even feel like I’m even going to work.”

Next to come on board was Timmy Anderson (on left) in March 2017. “I also started on the truck doing jobs in the field, then began doing part-time Inside Sales at the end of the summer, with half my time on the truck. Now I’m full time in the office as an Inside Sales Representative,” he said.

His favorite part of working here is the people, he says. “It is a good group to work with and the company itself has a great attitude. We get a lot of work done, but we have fun too.” Having worked previously doing odd jobs like tree work, patios and personal training, he had been seeking a full time job when brother Brian suggested he apply here.

What’s it like working with your brother?

“We did a lot of stuff together growing up, so it feels like when we were kids, but now we’re doing work instead of playing,” Timmy said.

“We have similar tracks with the company thus far, transitioning from the trucks into the office,” Timmy added. “The owner, Collin, saw something in us and thought we could contribute more to the company. It’s cool to have the owner have that kind of trust in us.”

Were there any issues about being brothers?

“When Timmy first started, I think people may have been a little less open with him about issues, thinking that he’d tell his brother and everyone would know,” Brian said. “But we’re all kind of like brothers here anyway.”

“Being Brian’s brother, when I came on I felt like people thought ‘Let’s see what he’s got,’” Timmy said. “But being on the truck is the ultimate equalizer.”

Brian was brought into the company by friends who worked there, and he has brought in not only his brother, but other friends as well. “You wouldn’t want to recruit your friends or sibling into a company to be miserable, but here it’s such a great place to work that you’re excited to tell others about it.” Even so, it’s not easy to get a job at 123JUNK. All potential employees are interviewed by the owner and a manager, followed by a set of “working interviews” on the truck. All prospective employees need to be green-lit by everybody they work with. “We want to make sure we find people who truly want to do this work and who fit in with our company culture of providing exceptional service.”

Personal Lives

Outside of work, Brian enjoys working out, watching TV, reading or listening to podcasts, and hanging out with friends. Timmy goes straight from work to the gym to work out and enjoys playing rugby several nights a week. The two currently live together in Manassas, and grew up in Burke. They come from a family of 8 siblings!

Brian and Timmy aren’t the first or the only pair of brothers to work at 123JUNK. The owner, Collin Wheeler, welcomed his own brother Kevin Wheeler into the business, and there have at  least a half dozen pairs of brothers throughout the years.

Want to Contact 123JUNK?

If you’re interested in a career at 123JUNK, please check out our Employment Opportunities. And if you need junk hauled from your home or office in Northern VA, MD or DC, please give Timmy or Brian a call. Now that you know them, it will be like calling a friend!