It's a fair question.
Why should I pay someone to take away my junk?
After all, it's trash. You're getting rid of it. You're not buying something new. And depending on how much you have, professional junk removal can cost considerably more than simply putting a few bags at the curb.
So what exactly are you paying for?
At RNR Junk Removal, we think consumers deserve a better answer than “because that's what junk removal costs.”
The truth is that getting something out of your house is only the beginning.
Someone has to lift it. Someone has to transport it. Someone has to determine where it can legally and responsibly go. Some materials can be donated or recycled. Others belong in a landfill. Certain chemicals, batteries, paints and other potentially hazardous materials require completely different handling.
And all of those individual decisions eventually become part of a much bigger environmental question:
What happens to everything America throws away?
Americans Generate an Extraordinary Amount of Trash
We consume a lot.
And eventually, much of what we consume becomes something we need to get rid of.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's most recent comprehensive municipal solid waste figures, the United States generated approximately 292.4 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2018.
That's approximately 4.9 pounds of waste per person, every single day.
About 146 million tons — roughly half of the municipal waste generated — went to landfills. Only about 32% was recycled or composted.
Think about what 4.9 pounds per person per day means.
One household's trash doesn't seem particularly significant.
One old couch doesn't seem significant.
One broken table doesn't seem significant.
One bag of unwanted clothes doesn't seem significant.
But multiply everyday disposal decisions across hundreds of millions of people, day after day, year after year, and suddenly taking out the trash becomes an enormous materials-management system.
And Household Trash Isn't Even the Whole Story
Construction and demolition waste exists on another scale entirely.
Concrete, wood, drywall, plaster, steel, bricks, asphalt shingles and similar materials aren't counted in the municipal solid waste number above.
EPA estimates that the United States generated approximately 600 million tons of construction and demolition debris in 2018 — more than twice the amount of municipal solid waste generated that year.
Concrete is a perfect example of why junk isn't always simply "junk."
Construction and demolition materials can have potential next uses. EPA tracks pathways in which materials can become aggregate, manufactured products, mulch, soil amendments and other uses rather than simply being landfilled.
That's why responsible removal matters.
Some Things Should Never Be Treated Like Ordinary Trash
Then there are the things sitting in American garages, basements, sheds and cabinets that require even more attention.
Paint.
Certain cleaners.
Motor oils.
Batteries.
Pesticides.
Other chemical products.
EPA warns that household products that are toxic, corrosive, reactive or capable of catching fire or exploding can qualify as household hazardous waste and require special care during disposal.
Improper disposal — including pouring certain materials onto the ground, down drains or into storm sewers — can pollute the environment and threaten human health.
This is also why a responsible junk removal company sometimes has to tell a customer that an item cannot simply be thrown onto the truck with everything else.
That's not inconvenience for the sake of inconvenience.
It's part of taking disposal seriously.
So Why Does Junk Removal Cost Money?
Because you're not really paying someone to make an object disappear.
Nothing disappears.
You're paying for the labor required to remove it from your home.
You're paying for the vehicle, equipment and fuel required to transport it.
You're paying for loading and unloading.
You're paying for disposal and facility fees.
You're paying for the time involved in determining what can go where.
You're paying someone else to handle the heavy, dirty and sometimes complicated part of getting unwanted material from your space to its appropriate next destination.
And you're buying back something else that's easy to underestimate:
your time.
Could you rent or borrow a truck, find someone to help lift everything, load it yourself, secure the load, drive it to the appropriate facility, unload it and then return home?
Absolutely.
Sometimes that's the right choice.
Professional junk removal exists for the times when you'd rather have someone else take care of that process.
Careful Junk Removal Matters in a Warming World
Waste management alone will not solve climate change.
But what we produce, consume, reuse, recycle and ultimately throw away is part of the environmental equation.
Landfills receive enormous amounts of material, and the choices we make before something reaches a landfill matter.
The question shouldn't simply be:
"How quickly can we get rid of this?"
It should also be:
"Where should this actually go?"
For us, responsible junk removal means recognizing that a couch, a battery, a pile of concrete and a container of chemicals are not four versions of the same thing.
They are different materials requiring different decisions.
America's Relationship With Stuff
There is also a larger conversation here about consumerism.
Our homes tell stories about what we buy.
The television that was once brand new eventually becomes outdated.
The couch we couldn't wait to have eventually becomes the couch we can't wait to remove.
Children outgrow things. Families move. Relationships change. Businesses close. Parents age. Homes are renovated. People inherit belongings. Garages fill up.
Eventually, almost everyone reaches the same moment:
Something has to go.
And that realization is part of why we chose this business.
Every American Has Some Trash to Take Out
At Resolved & Reliable Enterprises, LLC, RNR Junk Removal was never interesting to us simply because people have unwanted furniture.
We chose a business that puts us in contact with people from virtually every corner of our community.
Junk doesn't care about your profession, your neighborhood, your income or your background.
At some point, every American has some trash to take out.
Sometimes it's literally a mattress.
Sometimes it's the remnants of a renovation.
Sometimes it's the belongings left after a move or a major transition.
And sometimes "taking out the trash" is symbolic of something much larger: deciding what no longer serves us and making room for whatever comes next.
That idea reflects the bottom-up philosophy shared by the owners of Resolved & Reliable.
We believe meaningful change doesn't always begin with enormous institutions or sweeping declarations.
Sometimes it starts at the household level.
Then the street.
Then the neighborhood.
Then the community.
More Than Hauling Junk
Our long-term vision for Resolved & Reliable Enterprises, LLC extends beyond junk removal.
As our company grows, we hope to use what we learn from serving people directly to support broader community and humanitarian initiatives in the years ahead.
But we're starting at the bottom.
Literally.
The basement.
The garage.
The curb.
The apartment.
The old couch you've been walking around for six months.
Because communities aren't abstract ideas. They're made of individual people, individual households and thousands of ordinary interactions.
We happen to believe even hauling someone's unwanted things can be one of those interactions.
We're Happy to Take Out the Trash
So, why pay someone to remove your junk?
You don't always have to.
But when the amount, weight, transportation, time or disposal requirements make doing it yourself more trouble than it's worth, that's where a professional junk removal service earns its place.
At RNR Junk Removal, we're happy to do the lifting.
We're happy to load the truck.
We're happy to take out the trash.
And we're happy that something as ordinary as junk removal gives us another opportunity to meet the people who make up our community.
Because there is something surprisingly human about this business:
Everybody has something they need to let go of.
When you're ready to let go of yours, we'll be there to haul it away.
RNR Junk Removal
Resolved & Reliable Enterprises, LLC
RNRJUNK.com
Reliable service. Less clutter. More room for what matters.