Tag: junk removal District of Columbia

recycling bin sitting on desk in an office

Does Your Company Have an Office Recycling Program?

Posted on | by Linda Barrett

April’s Earth Day reminds us of one of the reasons we started 123JUNK: to keep as much out of the local landfills as possible. One of the ways you can do this in your company (other than using us) is to implement an office recycling program.

Tips for Creating an Effective Office Recycling Program

Go Paperless

  • Instead of printing hard copies of documents, get into the habit of saving them to your hard drive. Email documents when possible.
  • Do your banking online and share documents via e-billing and online document sharing software.

Save Resources

  • Save paper by printing two-sided documents when you need a hard copy.
  • Save ink by using a small font on documents. Set the printer for its “draft” ink savings setting.
  • Reuse file folders
  • Use the backs of discarded papers as note pads

Purchase Recycled Materials

There are a number of items composed of recycled content you can purchase for your office use: 

  • Reams of paper (look for 100% post-consumer recycled content)
  • Clipboards in 100% recycled wood (hardboard) or 60% post-consumer recycled plastic
  • Pens & Pencils, some are made from recycled cardboard, wood, newspaper or even old money
  • Dry erase and white boards, with refillable 100% aluminum markers
  • Post-It notes
  • Manilla mailing envelopes
  • Clear tape made from 100% recycled content
  • Recycled paper clips (use paper clips instead of staples)
  • Office furniture and protective floor mats can also be purchased with recycled content

Create Recycling Bins

Business materials that can be recycled, according to the EPA, include plastic, steel, paper, corrugated paper, solid fiber boxes, and industrial paperboard.

  • Set up paper recycling bins near office desk clusters and next to copy machines
  • Create a recycling center in the company’s kitchen or break area for food packaging, metals and acceptable plastics

Train Your Employees

Even though you have an office recycling program in place, are your employees utilizing it? Make it easy for them to participate, and show the benefits of recycling.

  • Educate employees on your office recycling program
  • Create a “green team”
  • Make a list of what types of items can be recycled. If you don’t know whether an item can be recycled, use a “recyclepedia.”
  • Place your recycling bins and signage in prominent locations
  • Group bins and have separate bins for each material type
  • Create a “recyclable” supply room in your office where employees can place items they no longer need or use, and pick up items they need

Hold a Recycling Challenge

  • Create recycling contests with rewards
  • Develop a monthly recycling goal; change the goal each month
  • Offer recognition levels for recycling achievements
  • Have employees participate in or volunteer for an offsite recycling event

Special Considerations

Almost everything in the office can be included in your office recycling program, however many of these items cannot be tossed into your recycling bin. They must be delivered to an e-waste recycling center, or in some cases, returned to the manufacturer.

  • Electronics. Pretty much anything with a cord or a plug, including computers, printers, copiers, tablets, telephones, external hard drives, USB cords, monitors, etc. can be recycled through an e-waste center or donated.
  • Toner cartridges and printer ribbons. Most often, these can be returned to the manufacturer for recycling or refill.
  • Cell phones. When a phone becomes outdated, it still has value. Cell phones can be returned to the manufacturer via a mail-in recycling program or donated to an organization as part of a fund-raising drive. Otherwise, it can go to an e-waste recycling center.
  • Batteries. Batteries contain metals that can be recycled, however, they also contain chemicals that can harm the environment.
  • CDs and DVDs. Since we’re using the cloud most often nowadays for our documents, CDs and DVDs are no longer popular. As they contain #7 polycarbonate plastic, and can release toxic gases if burned, these cannot be tossed in the trash or recycle bin.
  • Fluorescent bulbs. Because they contain mercury, fluorescent bulbs should not be throw into the trash.

Why Recycle?

  • To reduce landfill waste
  • To help the environment
  • To create jobs
  • To save energy, water, trees and other resources
  • To save money in office expenses

Office Recycling Through 123JUNK

Now that you’re collecting all these great office items for recycling, it’s time to contact 123JUNK. We’ll be glad to pick up these items in our big red trucks and deliver them to the appropriate recycling or donation centers. It’s part of our 1-2-3 Donate-Recycle-Dispose process.

And if you have items that can be recycled back into the community, like office desks, chairs or partitions, we’ll pick those up too and donate them on your behalf to our charity partners who resell these items to raise money for their causes like preventing homelessness. We’ll provide you with a receipt for tax purposes. Do this and you’ll not only get rid of items you don’t want, you’ll help both the community and the environment. Add that to your company challenge!

When you’re ready, contact 123JUNK. You’ll love our all-inclusive pricing and our stellar customer experience.

local-junk-removal

Why It’s Important to Support a Local Junk Removal Business

Posted on | by Linda Barrett

The year 2020 taught us many lessons. One of the most important lessons was that without your local support, your local businesses won’t survive. Here’s why supporting your local junk removal business is so important.

Local Businesses Create Jobs

Small businesses create approximately 1.9 million jobs annually, according to the Small Business Administration, and they account for almost all the net new job creation. In addition, small businesses—those with fewer than 500 employees—comprise 99.9% of all the companies in the United States, and employ about half of all U.S. employees.

Related: How Many Small Business are in the U.S.

Local Businesses Support Your Neighborhoods

On average, 67 cents of every dollar you spend at a local small business stays in the local community. In addition, the small business reinvests 23 cents of each dollar into other local businesses, reports SCORE.

Local Business Owners Support Your Community

Local businesses are run by people who live in your community, and help to make impactful decisions concerning your community. Their influence has a direct effect on your quality of life.

You Receive Personal Service

Local business owners are dedicated to providing exceptional customer service. We have to in order to compete with the national brands. Because we know and understand our local customers, we can tailor our services to what they want and need. For example, at 123JUNK, we actually pick up the phone and talk to customers rather than have them go through an automated process. It’s those little touches that make us different and provide you with a better overall experience.

You Support Entrepreneurship

It’s the entrepreneurs who fuel innovation and the economy. Our owner started in 2008 at age 23 by buying a small landscaping truck to help people move items they no longer wanted to keep. Today, 123JUNK employs dozens of people and maintains a sizeable fleet of trucks—some of the largest in the industry!

123JUNK Supports Your Local Charities

We have developed charity partners including Habitat for Humanity, the Humane Society, Passion for Community and A Wider Circle who rely on our donations to fund their programs. When you schedule a pickup from 123JUNK, we’ll sort through your items for things to donate, like household goods and furniture. People enjoy helping others, and you’ll get a real feeling of connection by helping to make the world a better place with your donations.

123JUNK is a Local Junk Removal Business

We sometimes hear that our clients are surprised when they find out 123JUNK is locally owned and operated. They think we’re much larger than we are. No, in fact, we’re a small business covering just Northern Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. We worked hard during the pandemic to make sure that we kept our employees working and our customers satisfied, and your support helped us to survive.

For Local Junk Removal in VA, MD and DC, Contact 123JUNK

We make it a point to serve and support our clients and communities where we live. When you need local junk removal, appliance or furniture removal, or cleanout services, contact 123JUNK.

staged home

Decluttering for Home Staging

Posted on | by chad

 

Do you want to sell your home faster and for a higher price? It can be as simple as decluttering, which helps set the stage to presenting your home in its best light. For your convenience, 123JUNK offers you a quick list of what to declutter, room by room.

For decluttering, you essentially have two options: stash it or trash it.

Items to Keep:

For items you want to keep, box them up and put them into storage, either onsite or offsite.

Items you Don’t Want to Keep:

For items for which you no longer have a need, donate them, recycle them, or send them to the trash. Let 123JUNK take those items off your hands for you. We’re glad to pick up any items from your home directly. We recycle what we can and trash the rest for you.

123JUNK’s Quick Guide to Decluttering for Home Staging

Decluttering Public Rooms

Kitchen

  • Clear counters of all small appliances and decorative items
  • Keep towels and potholders in drawers
  • Place sponges and cleaning products under the sink
  • Pack up rarely used cooking items, utensils to clear out drawers and cabinets
  • Remove rarely used or highly-aromatic spices and foods in drawers, cabinets and pantry
  • Remove any bug deterrents from the home
  • Remove pet feeding bowls

Living, Dining and Family Rooms

  • Clear away all or most books, magazines and hobby materials
  • Pack up personal photographs, knick-knacks and memorabilia from surfaces and mantel
  • Remove most artwork, especially personal art
  • Leave only a few accent pillows
  • Secure or remove throw rugs
  • Hide television remote controls
  • Limit toys or children’s items. Collect them into a basket or box
  • Remove extra furniture to make the rooms look airy and larger
  • Pack up out-of-season items from closets and hanging hooks from hallways
  • Clear off tops of surfaces, leaving only one or two decorative items for staging
  • Remove all pet items

If you need help in removing items from your home, please give 123JUNK a call at 800-364-5778. We serve Northern Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

decluttering-your-home-for-sale-123JUNK

Decluttering for Home Staging, Part I

Posted on | by chad

Do you want to sell your home faster and for a higher price? It can be as simple as decluttering, which helps set the stage to presenting your home in its best light. For your convenience, 123JUNK offers you a quick list of what to declutter, room by room.

For decluttering, you essentially have two options: stash it or trash it.

Items to Keep:

For items you want to keep, box them up and put them into storage, either onsite or offsite.

Items you Don’t Want to Keep:

For items for which you no longer have a need, donate them, recycle them, or send them to the trash. Let 123JUNK take those items off your hands for you. We’re glad to pick up any items from your home directly. We recycle what we can and trash the rest for you.

123Junk’s Quick Guide to Decluttering for Home Staging

Decluttering Public Rooms

Kitchen

  • Clear counters of all small appliances and decorative items
  • Keep towels and potholders in drawers
  • Place sponges and cleaning products under the sink
  • Pack up rarely used cooking items, utensils to clear out drawers and cabinets
  • Remove rarely used or highly-aromatic spices and foods in drawers, cabinets and pantry
  • Remove any bug deterrents from the home
  • Remove pet feeding bowls

Living, Dining and Family Rooms

  • Clear away all or most books, magazines and hobby materials
  • Pack up personal photographs, knick-knacks and memorabilia from surfaces and mantel
  • Remove most artwork, especially personal art
  • Leave only a few accent pillows
  • Secure or remove throw rugs
  • Hide television remote controls
  • Limit toys or children’s items. Collect them into a basket or box
  • Remove extra furniture to make the rooms look airy and larger
  • Pack up out-of-season items from closets and hanging hooks from hallways
  • Clear off tops of surfaces, leaving only one or two decorative items for staging
  • Remove all pet items

Be sure to read our second post in our series on decluttering. And if you need help in removing items from your home, please give 123JUNK a call at 800-364-5778. We serve northern Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.