Boutique junk removal business turns trash into treasures

Collin Wheeler is the last person you’d expect to be hauling away your trash. For one, he’s a germaphobe. He washes his hands every chance he gets, and launders shirts after one wear.

“But when I get into junk mode, it all goes out the window,” said Wheeler, the 27-year-old founder and chief executive of 123 Junk, an “eco-friendly” trash removal service based in Sterling that donates and recycles about half of the items it collects.

In his cargo shorts and Ray Ban sunglasses, the clean-cut Wheeler looks more like a lifeguard than a CEO.

He started the junk removal service at the age of 23, after a stint in the sales department of a moving company.

“It seemed like a good business opportunity,” said Wheeler, who has a degree in Business Administration from Radford University in Virginia. “I decided to hang up my suit and tie and became a junk man.”

Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post.