10. Junk removal is too expensive … Junk removal is more costly than dumpster rental, but not by much. If you have a small amount of junk to remove, the price difference between dumpster rental and junk removal is somewhere between $10 to $30. If you have a lot of junk, the price of  junk removal is almost on par with the price of a large roll-off dumpster. Plus, you do not need a permit for junk removal, like you would for a roll off dumpster. 

9. Junk removal is a rip-off … Admittedly there are a lot of bad apples in the junk removal basket. Junk removal is a “young business” and therefore under regulated. It is pretty easy for anyone with a truck to hang out a magnetic sign and call themselves a junk removal company. But on the other hand there are plenty of reputable junk removal companies in the junk removal business. If you use a junk removal company with a good reputation you won’t get ripped off.

8. Only hoarders need junk removal … Junk removal companies came to prominence with the rise of “Hoarders” the reality show.  But not everyone who uses a junk removal company is a hoarder. A lot of every day people who need to get rid of clutter use junk removal services to help them cleaner. Businesses and contractors also use junk removal companies to help maintain their businesses and get rid of stuff they can’t store on site.

7. I don’t need a junk removal company … Maybe you don’t, but look around your house. Look down in the basement or up in the attic. Then peak in your garage. The chances are you have a lot of built up junk and clutter. You may not need a junk removal service to get rid of that stuff, but a junk removal company can certainly help.

6. Junk removal services don’t charge … Junk removal is a business, and to make money junk removal services charge fees. If you have items that you need to get rid but can’t afford a junk removal service, you may want to find a charitable organization that collects items for donation. 

5. I can just go to the landfill myself … More and more landfills are closed to the public. And even charities like Goodwill and Salvation Army have become choosier about what items they’ll take. 

4. I can just fit all my junk and trash in my curbside garbage … Curbside garbage collection won’t take certain items and has strict weight limits on curbside trash bins.

3. Junk removal services don’t recycle … Most junk removal services recycle. In fact, typically, a junk removal service will recycle 90% of the junk they intake. 

2. Junk removal companies don’t handle construction debris. Most junk removal companies can help you get rid of construction debris as well as household junk.

1. Junk removal services are a waste of money — Living a simpler, cleaner life with less clutter is never a waste of money.

Before 1961 trash removal in the Los Angeles area consisted of three separate services: wet trash removal (food waste, etc), bottles and cans, and dry garbage and trash. Until 1957 dry trash was burned in backyard Los Angeles incinerators. This contributed greatly to Los Angeles’ notorious pollution problems. In 1957 backyard incinerators and trash burning was banned, but trash still had to be separated and picked up separately. 

In 1961 Sam Yorty ran for Mayor of Los Angeles. A key portion of his platform of reforms was stopping the three separate trash pick ups and combining them into one single trash pick up. Yorty went as far as dumping bags of trash on the steps of City Hall to illustrate how difficult it was for a “normal housewife” to separate trash.

The 1960 / 1961 Los Angeles’ Mayoral race was one of the ugliest and most brutal elections in history (probably rivaled by Yorty’s reelection race against Tom Bradley in 1969). And trash removal defined that race. 

It’s up for debate whether Sam Yorty’s race against separate trash removal was good or bad for the city. But it is largely irrelevant now since modern day Los Angeles has expanded trash removal to include recycling bins at every home and most apartments.

Ask your junk removal service if they offer an overnight trash removal or junk removal service for businesses and commercial clients. Most junk removal services have an overnight junk removal service for business. If not many junk removal services will work to accommodate your needs.

But a junk removal service in Los Angeles will most likely charge extra for an overnight junk removal / slash removal service. However, paying extra may be worth it if it spares your customers and employees a major inconvenience.

– Household paints (like latex paints)

– Spray paints

– Varnishes and stains (used in wood)

– Household cleaners

– Batteries

– Many electronics (particularly monitors and televisions)

– Motor oils

– Other fluids used for cars (i.e. power steering fluid, transmission fluid etc)

– Glues

– Most spray cans

Do not put these items out for regular trash pick up. If you put them out for regular trash pick up you may face large fines from your city.

So how did the world deal with trash before trash pick up? Trash wasn’t a huge health concern until people began living in cities. Native Americans, for instance, only generate about 5.3 pounds of trash per day. This trash was often buried or burned or sometimes just left in place.

Since the population of the Earth was so spread out and agrarian until the Industrial Revolution there wasn’t much need for trash pick up. The small amounts of trash a farmer might produced could be easily buried or burnt on his own land.

Trash pick up and waste management would only become an issue when the majority of the world’s populate  began shifting towards the city and an industrialized towns where people migrated to find jobs. Cities began to organize trash pick up as a way of controlling disease and removing enormous amounts of trash that would pile up in cities.