Just start

Sometimes it’s the thought of starting something, not the actual act of starting that can be stressful. So, if you’ve decided to go through your belongings and get rid of some stuff, just do it! Start in one room. Start in one corner. Just start. You’ll find once you do, it’s a lot easier from there. If you find that you tend to waiver when it comes to getting rid of junk, ask a friend or family member to come help you. Sometimes just having another person around to ask “Do you really need that?” can help.

What’s junk?

While it will vary a bit from person to person, junk is basically anything that is broken or decrepit to the point that you can’t use it. But, using a wider definition, junk can be perfectly good, in pristine condition, but it’s something you will never use again.  Be honest with yourself: if that waffle maker has been in your closet for two years, odds are you don’t need it. And are you really ever going to get around to fixing that 20 year old TV?

Divide and conquer

With that being said, remember one thing: one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Just because it’s junk to you doesn’t mean that it isn’t valuable to someone else. So, when going through your “junk”, separate the stuff into three piles: throw-out, donate, sell.

If it’s completely useless, like a computer monitor that’s smashed or a pair of jeans with a huge hole in them, just chuck it out.  Clothes you’ve outgrown, dishes you no longer use and books that you’ve already read can be donated to a local homeless or women’s shelter. Other items, such as that unused waffle maker or older model TV can be sold through the want ads. Even if you have something that is broken, like a washer, you may be able to sell it for the parts. Just be honest in your ad about the condition of the item.

Hire someone to haul the junk

Once you have given away your donated items and sold your waffle maker, you still need to get rid of the junk that you have left. While you can cart it off to the dump yourself, it may be easier to hire a company to come and take the stuff away, especially if you have a lot or if some of the items are heavy. For a small amount of money a company will come and take care of hauling away your unwanted junk. If you’re in the greater Toronto area give us a call, we’re a Toronto junk removal servicing throughout the greater Toronto area.

Don’t replace with more junk

Once you clean out your unwanted junk, you may be tempted to go out and buy more stuff. Resist the urge to fill your newly empty space. Thinking carefully about each thing you bring into your house means that later on down the road you won’t have to come up with a plan to get rid of your junk, because you won’t have any.

Ingredients

When choosing cleaning products don’t just look for products that offer the best and easiest cleaning. Check out what ingredients are used. If harmful chemicals are used in the cleaning product, cleaning your house with it can harm the environment. Just because a product is used to clean out your sink or bathtub doesn’t mean it’s biodegradable.  And if it isn’t biodegradable it shouldn’t be going down any drains. Thankfully most products today are biodegradable, but never take it for granted.

All natural

Even if a product is biodegradable, it doesn’t mean it’s something you should be using to clean your house. Some chemicals will eventually break down, meaning that they can be labeled biodegradable. But they can be irritating to the skin and also to breathe in. All natural cleaning products that use essence oils and things like vinegar to clean are easier on the skin and the lungs. While you can still have an allergic reaction to essence oils, all natural products aren’t harmful to the environment and are generally milder. They also fill your house with fresh, natural scents when they are used, instead of the artificial, chemical smell that comes with regular cleaning products. And since they are becoming more popular, they aren’t nearly as expensive as they used to be. In fact, quite often their price is on par with regular cleaning products.

Ditch the paper towels

For most households, paper towels are an integral part of daily life. We use it to clean counters, windows, spills and tables. We always have it on hand and tend to stockpile it when it goes on sale. But do we really need to use it as much as we do? Not really. For a lot of the tasks we give paper towels, a cleaning cloth will work just as well, if not better.  And with so many different cleaning clothes available for a reasonable price there’s one for each cleaning task. Not only does switching to cleaning cloths help the environment, it saves on money.

Sort your garbage

Even if it isn’t require in your town or city, sorting garbage is a good habit to get into. Waste, compost and recycling should all go in separate garbage cans.  You wouldn’t believe the difference this can make to landfills and garbage dumps. And you can even make some money from your recyclables. If you aren’t sure what to do with your compost, or even how to go about separating your garbage, you can find out from your local government or any environmental groups that are in your area.

Clean regularly

Cleaning not only makes everything look sparkly, but it also helps with the upkeep of your home. If your floors, sinks, appliances and whatnot get a regular cleaning, they’ll last longer. This means that they won’t end up as waste before their time. Once again this is good for the environment and your pocketbook.

When you first think of eco friendly cleaning practice, you may become bogged down and confused by what that means and it may just seem easier to continue cleaning as you always have. But being responsible to the environment while keeping your house clean doesn’t have to be convoluted or expensive. By changing a few small, easy things you can keep your house clean and fresh and be kind to the environment.

Did you know? 888-Iam-Junk is eco-friendly? We try to recycle and donate as much of the items we can when we do junk removal for clients. Call us today to book your next appointment!

Throughout the summer you no doubt had a slew of items that you used, whether it be the BBQ, beach toys or something larger like a canoe or Sea doo. As the weather turns colder, odds are you don’t need to have these items on hand anymore.  Rather than simply leaving them laying around the house or shoved in a closet, organizing them in storage will save you space and a huge head ache when you go to find the items come spring. Using clear totes will let you see what’s being stored. If you use colored totes, a label will help you know where everything is. It’s also a good idea to store summer clothes. This will clear up closet space for your fall and winter clothes. It’s a lot easier to pick out an outfit if you don’t have to paw through swimsuits, shorts and tanks that you won’t be wearing for several months anyway.

On the flip side, it’s much easier to get your fall and even your winter clothes out of storage and cleaned all at once at the beginning of fall, rather than picking through totes searching for items as you need them. Also, it’s easier to evaluate your wardrobe and see if there is anything that needs replacing. There is nothing worse than trying to buy a winter jacket or heavy fall overcoat at the end of the season.

Fall’s cooler weather usually means extra blankets on the beds at night. Don’t wait until you are freezing at 3 am in the morning to go searching through closets for your favorite fleece blanket.  Take stock of your fall linens to make sure that you have everything that you need. And since it’s all been in storage for several months, wash it all to make sure that it will be ready when the nights start to get cold.

For many, fall means canning and pickling season. Before you go out and buy your supplies, check your pantry and see what you already have. If you still have 20 bottles of beets, odds are you don’t need to make anymore. Also check the seals on any bottled goods. Those 20 bottles of beets may not be edible if the seal has broken on them. Once you know what you have and what you will need, make room in your pantry for your new supplies. If your canned and bottled goods are well organized, then you may not run into an overflow of beets.

A lot of the fall organizing that you do for your home has to do with keeping you and your family warm. This includes checking out the seals on your doors and windows to make sure that they’ll keep the cold out and the warm in. Buying new seals or plastic covers for your windows will keep your house warm and cut down on your heating bill. You can also change your curtains, switching out light, summery drapes for heavier window covers that can also keep the heat in.

Don’t forget, when you’re organizing your home if you need a junk removal company you know where to look! Call us at 888-Iam-Junk today!

Are you ready for fall?

• Of course, hire a lovely service that can do the hard work for you! But…we’ll give you a few other options below if you want to take on this task yourself.
• Schedule a pickup from your local waste and recycling facility, if you are in the Toronto area you can click here for more information.
• Go to a recycling center and drop off your items. Make sure to go through all of your items and pick out clothing that can be donated to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, food that can be donated to an area Food bank, items that are recyclable (like paper, plastics, aluminum, etc…), and dispose of the items that can’t be recycled.
• Consider giving things away, through systems like Freecycle. It’s an online site that allows you to give away items, Craigslist is another one that will allow you to post items for free.

How have you been able to provide an eco-friendly touch to your bulk junk removal lately?

1. Remove, sort and dispose junk from your crawlspace (or attic)
2. Clean and organize your backyard. Remove excessive combustible materials that can become a fire hazard
3. Dispose old appliances and electronic equipment that may be around your house just collecting dust
4. Even knowing that guys hate this idea, it may be time to clean and dispose junk from your shed.
5. Regain your car space and clean up your garage

When you’re ready to tackle your junk resolutions (with no physical effort from your side of things) just give us call.

1-888-I AM JUNK – Same day, 24/7 Junk Removal Toronto and GTA

Some examples of items that should NOT go into the garbage removal section are:

Computer monitors and TV sets, computer hard drives, printers & fax machines, cell phones, VCRs, radios and microwaves.

1-888-I AM JUNK is your eco-friendly Toronto junk removal solution. We care about the environment and make an effort to reduce the amount of junk that ends up in the landfill.