Archive for the 'Landfills' Category

Recycling – It’s More than just Re-using Someone Else’s Trash

Published on September 30, 2011 in Green Junk Removal, Landfills, Recycle Furniture, Recycling, junk hauling and junk king. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .
Why exactly do you call a junk recycling service like Junk King to get rid of those bulky items when you could call a regular trash pick-up service instead? There are those who do it so they can feel environmentally friendly (some actually are) and there are those who do it out of a genuine desire to help others. Those old appliances can be re-used by someone in need, right? Isn’t that what recycling is? The answer to that is yes and no. Recycling is re-using someone else’s trash, but it’s also much, much more than that.
To understand the importance of recycling, you must first look at the results of not recycling. These results are easy to see if you just visit your local landfill or watch the incinerators’ smoke stacks emit toxic fumes into the air. Plastics and other materials that are not recycled are causing irreparable damage to our soil, air, and water supplies. In the case of landfills, the land that they rest on will be unusable for decades, even centuries to come. There are some items that will degrade in time. Others never will.
Next, look at items that can be recycled. Appliances often contain toxic chemicals which can cause significant damage if discarded without proper precautions being taken. When appliances are recycled, part of that process is getting rid of harmful fluids and fuels in a responsible manner. Landfills, transfer stations, and incinerators don’t do that. They simply dispose of the entire appliance in whatever manner they dispose of everything else that is brought to them.
Recycling centers don’t dispose of anything. They find a new use for each and every item that comes through their doors. If you call Junk King to to haul away your old appliances or stereo equipment you can rest assured that the parts or the whole of the item will be in use in someone else’s home in no time. That should give you the incentive you need to do some recycling. Just think of all the jobs you will create just by recycling your appliances and electronics.
In cases of electronics, the originals can be broken down into many parts to create new items in the same or different categories. That old radio you recycled five years ago may have been used to create the CD player you just bought or it could have been recycled into an automobile dashboard. Either way, it wasn’t wasted. It also didn’t get buried in a landfill where the plastic will never break down and will be useless after a few years. It’s hard to recycle an item that is melted or fused together with other items.
Go back forty years and everyone took their trash to the dump. Consideration was never given to the fact that those dumps would eventually fill up and have to expand. It was just assumed that trash would break down and disappear. Much of it has, but newer items, made from materials that are made to be indestructible, never really do. That’s why recycling is so important, and why it’s so much more than just re-using someone else’s trash.

Benefits of Recycling Old Furniture, Large Trash and Everyday Items

Published on September 13, 2011 in Green Junk Removal, Landfills, Recycle Furniture, Recycling, junk king, junk recycling, large trash pick up and trash removal. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .
There isn’t really any doubt in anyone’s mind that recycling is beneficial to us all. Just take a look at all the landfills in your area that are filled with plastics and other materials that will never break down. Those blue bins the trash company provides you with for separating bottles, paper goods, and cans for recycling should be a regular part of your daily routine. No one should even have to think about it anymore.
Certain substances can only be recycled; they do not degrade. If you’re planning on doing some cleaning in your home, make sure you know which ones they are. Textiles like rayon fall in this category, as do plastics and polymers. They’re built to be indestructible and they are, so make sure the junk removal company that takes them away is going to be recycling and not just dumping them. That old couch could become a new piece of furniture or a garment for someone. It still has a use. Throwing it into a landfill would be a waste and could poison the soil. Those dyes and wood preservatives they used to manufacture it are usually toxic.
If you’re not able to see the environmental benefit of recycling, consider the financial impact it has on our economy. Every year, hundreds of trees are cut down for paper goods and thousands of pounds of harmful emissions are released into the air by plastics factories. The economic impact of just these two actions is staggering. The trees need to be replaced because they’re our source of oxygen. The factories need to be refitted to lower emissions. Accomplishing either of these costs money – both the actual cost of the actions and the legislation and lobbying required for them to happen.
Some states have bottle bills that require a deposit on all plastic bottles and cans. The deposit is refunded when you return the empty containers, a good incentive for people to recycle. With the economy being the way it has been, you don’t even have to cash them in yourself. In most cities if you place your cans on the sidewalk in a paper bag someone will come by and get them. There are plenty of folks out of work who are happy to make their money five or ten cents at a time.
It’s important to recycle. There is also a responsibility that comes with doing it. Use the bins the way the trash removal company instructs you to because doing otherwise it will cost you and them more money.
When you have a large piece of furniture that you need taken away, don’t just leave it out for the trash trucks. Consider calling a junk removal company like Junk King that specializes in recycling and can bring the item someplace where it can do some good. The end result of actions like that will be cleaner air, land, and water, not to mention much-needed job creation in the recycling industry.

Harmful Landfills

Published on February 24, 2010 in Green Junk Removal and Landfills. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

A recent study was conducted by the University of Washington which concludes that the average American produces up to 7 pounds of garbage a day. If you do the math, it means each of us churns out 2,555 pounds of garbage every year. Multiply that by 300,000,000 million Americans and that’s a lot of garbage. Unfortunately for us, most of this garbage is going to end up in one of the thousands of landfills that are stretched across the county. Why do landfills hurt the environment and our way of life? Let’s count the ways:

Bad for the Air We Breathe

As the garbage in landfills begins to break down and degrade, it releases various gases into the atmosphere. Typically, these are chemical compounds that rise into the atmosphere and hitch a ride on the jet stream. These emissions then become “seeds” for rain clouds and end up clogging the atmosphere. This means that just because you don’t live anywhere near a landfill doesn’t mean you can’t be exposed to the harmful effects.

In addition, when these chemical emissions are collected in the upper atmosphere they can contribute to the deterioration of the ozone layer. As we all know, this is one of the main concerns of global climate change. When the ozone is depleted, we lose our protection against the sun’s ultraviolet rays which increases the ocean’s temperature. This has a cascading effect that is felt in severe storms and rising sea levels. Once garbage is dumped in a landfill, it’s there for a long, long time.

Bad for the Water We Drink

Not all the problems of a landfill can be found in the air we breathe. As that garbage decomposes, there are just as many harmful chemical compounds that seep into the soil and find their way into water ways. These underground water ways feed into larger aqua tributaries which in turn become our sources for water.

Yes, landfills are supposed to be in safe areas but think about rotting fruit. If you leave a piece of fruit out on your lawn, it will break down and disintegrate. Now instead of fruit think of discarded computer monitors, batteries, oils, and paints… the list of harmful elements in a landfill is truly endless.

Bad for Our Quality of Life

For the unlucky folks who happen to live near a landfill, there are a whole host of unwanted “guests” who show up to feast on the garbage. This means bugs, birds, rats, possums and all many of creepy crawlers who would make their home in the landfill. And don’t think they’re going to stay there for long. As their unfettered population grows, these critters will leech out into the surrounding areas leading to a virtual overrun of vermin.

When you add in other dangers like burning fires and floating debris, you can clearly see why landfills hurt the environment and are bad all around.  Junk-King is trying to slow the growth of our country’s landfills by recycling up to 60% of the waste that we salvage.  If you’re thinking about getting rid of the unwanted clutter in your home or business and aren’t sure if it will end up in landfill, feel free to contact Junk-King for a free onsite junk removal estimate.