Month: March 2022

Professional property cleanout services in Chantilly VA

Do I Need to Be There for My Junk Removal?

Posted on | by Linda Barrett

When 123JUNK schedules a junk removal pickup with a homeowner or business client, we prefer that the client is going to be on site when we arrive. However, “Do I need to be there for my junk removal” is one of the questions we sometimes get from prospective clients. Let’s look at why you need to be present.

Here are some reasons why you need to be there for your junk removal:

To Enable Interior Access

When you have junk, furniture or household goods that need to be removed from inside your home, garage or yard, our team members will require access. Someone needs to be there to let them in and walk them to the areas where our team will get to work. We’ll also need to see the floors, stairs, walls and any property we’ll need to work around so we can protect them during your junk removal.

To Identify Items for Removal

You know exactly which items need to be hauled, and you may have already gathered them into a pile. But if you have furniture, appliances or other large items, they cannot be piled. To ensure we take the correct items—and get everything you want removed, we ask that you be there to help to point them out to our team.

To Make Sure We Can Take It

There are certain items, like chemicals or hazardous waste, that are prohibited by law for 123JUNK to haul. And sometimes our clients have questions on whether we can take an item or not. You need to be there to show us the items, and it’s OK if you ask if we can haul or recycle things you’re not sure about. We do ask that you not put questionable items into boxes where they cannot be identified by sight. You can also check our FAQs for a listing of items we can and cannot take.

Related: EPA–Household Hazardous Waste

To Ensure the Job is Complete

When you are there for your junk removal, we want you to make sure that we complete the job to your full satisfaction—that we’ve taken all of the items you want us to and swept the area where they were located to leave it tidy.

To Set Expectations About What Can Be Donated.

In order to provide a better service experience to our clients, it is best that we have a discussion about your items and our professional opinion about what our charity partners will be interested in accepting from your property.

Are There Times When I Don’t Need to Be There for My Junk Removal?

We truly prefer that you are on site when we arrive for your junk removal, and in 99.9% of the time, we’ll require it. It helps us to avoid confusion, offer you a smoother and more enjoyable transaction, and ensure that the job is done right and to your satisfaction.

On rare occasions, we have scheduled a curbside pickup where the client does not have to be there. Whether we can provide that service to your situation is something we determine on a case-by-case basis.

Schedule Your Junk Removal in DC, MD and No. VA with 123JUNK

When you schedule your junk removal with 123JUNK, we’ll walk you through what to expect and provide you with convenient, all-inclusive pricing up front. If you need junk removal from your home—or commercial or office spaces—in Northern Virginia, Maryland or Washington, DC, contact 123JUNK at 1-800-364-5778.

close up of many solar panels outside in the sun

Washington DC is One of the Greenest Cities in the World

Posted on | by Linda Barrett

Did you know that Washington DC was the first LEED Platinum City in the world!  In 2017 it was awarded the LEED for Cities Certification, an honor given to cities containing the most green buildings and sustainable building initiatives. For a world capital, the District of Columbia is surprisingly green! But it didn’t happen by accident. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the city chose to leverage technology and data to achieve resiliency and sustainability goals to create a healthy and safe community.

According to the US Green Building Council (USGBC), “The LEED platform recognizes the outcomes of a city’s leadership in creating a sustainable and resilient-built environment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support clean energy innovation, and focus on inclusive prosperity and livability in all eight wards.”

One example is the American Geophysical Union (AGU) headquarters, with its net zero energy renovation. The energy used to power the building and activities within is the same or less than energy generated onsite through renewable energy. This building has 700 solar panels installed on the roof and a rainwater collection system. Another example is the Discovery School in Arlington, VA, Virginia’s first net zero energy building, with 1706 solar panels on its roof to help power its 100% LED lighting.

Even More Greenest Honors

Washington DC/Arlington/Alexandria also came in third place as one of the greenest American cities with more than 1 million people on a ListShack survey, just behind number one Austin/Round Rock, Texas and Portland, Oregon. Cities were rated based on five “green points:” the number of LEED-certified buildings (per 1,000 residents); the percentage of parkland; miles of bike lanes (per 10,000 residents); the number of farmer’s markets (per 10,000 residents); and the quantity of electric car plug-in locations (per 10,000 residents).

And in 2021, Washington, DC appeared in the 7th position in the Greenest Cities in America list provided by WalletHub, based on 28 key indicators of environmental friendliness and sustainability that promote a green lifestyle.

Other Greenest Initiatives

Washington DC was the first city in North America to institute a bikeshare system—Capital Bikeshare, and more than 60% of travel around the city is done by bicycle, walking or public transport, where many of the buses run on alternative fuels.

DC’s food scene is also green. You’ll find “farm to table” restaurants and hotels featuring their own gardens and beehives to supply food, and with access to farmer’s markets, locally-sourced foods and beverages are often found on the menu. Catering companies switched from single-use cutlery to reusable or biodegradable options, plastic and paper bags received a surcharge, and polystyrene food packaging and cartons were banned.

Another initiative, DC’s RiverSmart program, gives financial rebates to property owners who use rain barrels and rain gardens, shade trees and green roofs to capture water. These enable rainwater to stay on site and soak into the ground where pollutants are removed by natural processes. The program was initiated to help reduce stormwater runoff that can harm both DC’s waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.

123JUNK is Committed to “Going Green”

At 123JUNK, we founded our business with environmental sustainability at the forefront of our mission. We like to think we’re the “greenest” junk removal company in our area! Our 3-step “Donate-Recycle-Dispose” process helps keep items out of area landfills, and often recirculates them back into the community through our charitable partners.

Learn more about our 1-2-3 junk disposal process and our convenient flat-fee pricing, and contact 123JUNK when you need to clear out your home or office. There’s no need to sort items in advance; our team is glad to do that for you. Just point us towards the items you’d like to donate or remove and we’ll do the rest.

For the greenest, most environmentally-friendly Junk Removal in DC, Northern VA and MD, contact 123JUNK.