How To Choose An Eco-Friendly Junk Removal Company in the Bay Area

Getting rid of the junk that has accumulated over the years can seem like a daunting task. Whether it’s a full garage, storage unit, or basement – going through each item to separate, sort, and figure out what to do with it all can take up a major chunk of your weekend. Before starting, you would need to first identify or categorize your junk depending on junk type. For example, clothes, furniture, e-waste, and appliances all need to be disposed of differently here in the Bay Area. Instead of doing the disposal process yourself, hiring a professional eco-friendly junk removal service can make the task (and your life) easier. It can also help you reduce your environmental footprint in multiple ways if done correctly. Let’s explore.  

Societies Waste Problem: A Closer Look

We’ve all heard the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses,” but in today’s modern world this approach has reached a whole new level of concern. Society has an interesting effect on us. Too often, it calls us to conform. Think of the constantly changing styles and how quickly society adapts to them. With technology, fashion, and other styles constantly evolving, we need to, just as constantly, somehow get rid of the old stuff.

The US generates more than 258 million tons of municipal solid waste each year — that’s all the packaging, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, batteries, and everything else that gets thrown into garbage cans. Around 34.6% of that waste gets recycled, some gets burned for energy, and the rest gets sent to landfills, Global Citizen reports.

As our earth becomes populated by more and more people, each of whom desires the latest and greatest thing, our landfills have become overloaded trying to keep up.  

Why Is Eco-Friendly Junk Removal Important?

While the easy solution is to dump unwanted items in the trash or call someone to come pick it up and take it away – these items simply just don’t “disappear ”once they’ve been turned over to the bin. The waste has to go somewhere and if it’s not carefully sorted, it may end up in our growing landfill problem. This means that junk requires some planning to make sure it gets properly tended to. Eco-friendly junk removal services ensure that the environment stays cleaner and healthier by limiting the amount of waste that is dumped into landfills. Here are just a few of the things you’ll want to keep in mind when choosing the best eco-friendly decluttering and disposal junk removal service in the Bay Area.  

Do They Recycle?

The junk removal company that you choose should care about the environment and make every effort to properly sort and recycle what they can. This starts by hiring a junk removal company that has the experience and is trained to know what can and can’t be recycled. At Nixxit, our team has over 10 years of experience in the industry. Our services make reducing your footprint easy. We recycle:

• Glass
• Paper
• Plastic
• Metals
• Textiles

 

Do They Donate?

Always clarify what the junk removal company plans to do with your items once they’ve been hauled away, especially any items that are still in good condition. It would be a shame to see that perfectly good sofa end up in a landfill. Reputable eco-friendly junk removal service providers partner with Bay Area charities to donate usable items like clothing and furniture while recycling other materials to keep as many things out of landfills as possible.

How Does Their Donation Process Work?

One of the biggest benefits of hiring a junk removal service to do the clean-up work for you is convenience. You want a simplified process while resting assured that your items won’t be contributing to landfill waste. Nixxit’s standard junk removal services take the guesswork out of calling around to different charities and doing that work yourself. Our team handles all the heavy lifting and can remove the items from anywhere. We also do this at your convenience. From there, we sort items and try to rehome what we can. Items may go to a local non-profit or directly to a family in need.  

What Percentage of Junk is Diverted From Landfills?

Before hiring a junk removal company, always ask them to clarify what percentage of their “junk” is either donated or recycled, as opposed to dumped in a landfill. We would recommend choosing a company that’s willing to offer some transparency on this front to make sure your items are handled in an eco-friendly way. At Nixxit, we donate, recycle, and rehome up to 80% of what we haul away. We are able to do this by utilizing Nixxit’s Oakland processing facility to enhance our operational efficiency. Items that can be recycled or donated get sorted through here. This provides a more streamlined and efficient way to get things into the hands of those who need them most.  

What Other Measures Does The Company Take to Be Eco-Friendly?

To avoid companies that attempt to greenwash their services, consider what they do beyond their landfill use. Do their green junk removal services extend throughout their business operations? Some examples include:

• Fuel Consumption/Route Optimization – Does the company make responsible decisions about fuel usage? From specialized route-planning to ensuring they carry loads as efficiently as possible.
• Marketing – Spamming mailboxes with flyers, print materials, and other swag items seems counterintuitive when advertising as an eco-friendly company. What marketing strategies have they put into place that don’t contribute to the overall waste stream?
• Paper Waste Consumption – According to Green Initiatives, the production of paper requires a large number of resources. Over the past few years, roughly 4 billion trees (35% of the total trees in the world) have been cut down for the production of paper. However, that is not all that is required to make paper. Producing paper requires 17,000 gallons of water per ton of paper. As well as many other hazardous chemicals in the process.

Electronic invoices and receipts are just one-way companies can demonstrate their commitment to an environmentally sustainable future.

In addition to helping preserve the environment through sustainable disposal practices once we’ve hauled away items, Nixxit has implemented all of these green initiatives above. This has allowed us to operate with total efficiency and reduce our environmental footprint, shown by our Bay Area Green Business Certification.  

How Does Eco-Friendly Junk Removal Work?

As you consider hiring an eco-friendly junk removal service, it may be helpful to step back and consider how these companies work. Generally, you’ll start by getting a quote. This will require you to let the company know how much junk you need to have removed, where it is located, and what the content of your load includes. This helps the junk removal company make certain that they send the right personnel and equipment to get rid of it and that the items are not hazardous materials. Once the company is on-site, they will assess items to determine if they are still usable or could be refurbished, in which case they may be donated to shelters or other local Bay Area charities. Alternatively, they will seek to recycle your items. Items are then sorted through and hauled away to various facilities. The goal of any eco-friendly junk removal company should be diverting items away from the landfills, and you can always ask a representative from your chosen Bay Area company about what percentage of items they typically divert.  

The Best Eco-Friendly Junk Removal Company in the Bay Area, CA

Homeowners and businesses in the Bay Area that are looking for eco-friendly junk removal services love working with Nixxit. When you don’t want to contribute junk to the landfill that could be recycled or donated, Nixxit can help. Our certified green process diverts as much material as possible. Nixxit is committed to a clean environment and zero waste practices.  

Get Started On Eco-Friendly Junk Removal Today!

Call 1 – (855) 546-0749. Our friendly eco-friendly junk removal professionals will work with you to assess the scope of your project, get you on the schedule, and provide you with an on-site no-obligation estimate. After our junk removal professionals arrive and provide you with a final estimate, they get to work, efficiently removing the materials from your property. From there, items are disposed of in an eco-friendly way, either through recycling, rehoming, or donating. Make the environmentally-conscious choice when it comes to junk removal. Get started. Call 1 – (855) 546-0749 today.