{"id":9249,"date":"2019-03-26T16:51:44","date_gmt":"2019-03-26T20:51:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/?p=9249"},"modified":"2019-03-26T16:51:44","modified_gmt":"2019-03-26T20:51:44","slug":"traveling-the-green-highway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/traveling-the-green-highway\/","title":{"rendered":"Traveling the green highway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Junkluggers hauling its way to a cleaner planet<\/strong><\/p>\n

Each year over 9 billion pounds of garbage is produced in the United States. That\u2019s a nine followed by nine zeros. It looks like this: 9,000,000,000. Any way you cut it, it\u2019s a whole lot of trash. And growing.<\/p>\n

About 25 percent of that mountain of detritus is recycled. The remaining three-quarters consist of valuable glass, metal, paper and other materials tossed into landfills.<\/p>\n

Admirably, recycling has progressed over the last several decades. In 1980 Americans recycled 15 million tons of garbage. By 2016 that number had climbed to well over 90 million tons and continues to grow.<\/p>\n

Still, by any measure, there is an opportunity to further redirect tons of waste from landfills into reusable materials. The solution is embedded in every citizen contributing one bottle, can or newspaper at a time.<\/p>\n

But operating with a larger vision, the newest member of Northern Virginia\u2019s business community is channeling tired household goods into second lives by recycling furniture, appliances, glass, metal and other commodities.<\/p>\n

\"\"The company\u2019s business model centers on coming to your apartment, home or office to start the evolution of used things to their next useful stage. And it does not involve a visit to a landfill.<\/p>\n

So, who might need such a service? Families renovating a home, empty nesters cleaning out after a young adult\u2019s departure, loved ones disposing of a life of accumulated possessions after the death of an elderly family member, or simply those switching out one piece of furniture for another.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Junkluggers.<\/p>\n

Hauling for humanity<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>The force behind Junkluggers is Mark Harrington, 44, a Haymarket resident, husband and father of three young ones. He is a native Virginian having grown-up in Alexandria and Springfield.<\/p>\n

The first part of his professional career centered on business development in the IT industry serving Beltway Bandits and the Federal Government.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked for a midsize Chantilly firm securing IT contracts for eight years and then spent 12 years with a larger firm in a similar capacity. That company was sold in 2016 and I took time off to consider what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,\u201d said Harrington.<\/p>\n

The energetic and athletic looking man had a strong entrepreneurial streak waiting to be set free. He undertook extensive research on franchises to find one that was both profitable and contributing to the commonweal. Junkluggers resonated as among the best.<\/p>\n

The company was the original brainchild of Josh Cohen who stumbled upon the idea of an environmentally friendly junk service in 2004 while studying in Australia. He returned to the states and established the nascent service using his mom\u2019s SUV. Needless to say, that original workhorse has been put out to pasture.<\/p>\n

Today, the company is a highly rated waste and junk removal franchise. Northern Virginia is fortunate to have Harrington\u2019s firm serving the top third of the state. With his experience in business development, he quickly assessed the potential success factor of opening his own hauling company. \u201cInitially I didn\u2019t know anything about the industry but after my research, it was appealing to me and it fit my skill set.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two months ago, the local firm began service and is now serving all of Northern Virginia, D.C. and suburban Maryland.<\/p>\n

Its service is simplicity itself tucked into green trucks. Junkluggers contracts to haul any used household goods and recycles almost 100 percent of the contents. When a truck full of former life stuff leaves a customer\u2019s home or office its destination is either partner charities or recycling centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly the term junk is a misnomer. Often, it\u2019s simply things that have run its course within a certain home and need to start a new life somewhere else,\u201d Harrington explains.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how it works: A customer places a call to the firm and arranges for a free estimate. After an agreement on terms, the company\u2019s two-man team arrives with one of its trucks that are outfitted with an off-loadable 15-yard container. The container is only left on site when sortation and packing cannot be accomplished in one visit.<\/p>\n

As the used materials are removed from the home, items are segregated as to their intended disposal. Furniture, lamps, appliances, etc. that obviously have second life potential are packed separately from glass, metal and other recyclable materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently we have six designated charities: Habitat Restore, Soles4Souls, Inova Children\u2019s Hospital, Vets on Track Foundation, Women Giving Back, and Mikey\u2019s Way Foundation. We will grow our list of hyper-focused charities over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The remaining items including unusable home furnishings are taken to multi-stream recycling centers. \u201cFor example, if we are removing used paint cans, we do not simply put them in a plastic bag for dumping. We segregate and dispose of them in proper recycling bins,\u201d said Harrington.<\/p>\n

He also underscores that unlike simple trash hauling companies his crew will remove furnishings from throughout the home, including basements and third floors. \u201cA lot of trash companies want you to stage the stuff. That\u2019s not required with our service,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

The cost of the service is divided into 13 increments depending on the size of a given load. The average job to \u201cclean house\u201d has been running around $533.<\/p>\n

In the next few months, Harrington will open a 5,000 square foot warehouse as a remix marketplace. \u201cIt will be a further testament to sustainability and 100 percent landfill diversion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a piece of furniture is really banged up and one of our charities does not want it, the last thing we want to do it take to a landfill. At the center, we can re-purpose and refinish it and upcycle those pieces to sell them and give a portion of the proceeds back to a charity.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I really would like to ultimately do with the center is create a, \u201cDo it yourself\u201d operation and have creative people produce art and craft items to benefit a charity,\u201d said Harrington.<\/p>\n

Any way you segregate it, Junkluggers is an emerging force in the battle against landfill overload. They are located at 6632 Electric Avenue in Warrenton.<\/p>\n

To learn more about how the company can declutter your life visit its comprehensive website at https:\/\/www.junkluggers.com\/gainesville\/#~k8h5Q51<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published in the March 20, 2019 edition of the Fauquier Times.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Junkluggers hauling its way to a cleaner planet Each year over 9 billion pounds of garbage is produced in the United States. That\u2019s a nine followed by nine zeros. It looks like this: 9,000,000,000. Any way you cut it, it\u2019s a whole lot of trash. And growing. About 25 percent of that mountain of detritus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[1011,1012],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n