JUNK RESCUE

Will you sleep with me?

2011-04-16T06:45:00.000-07:00

Ummmm, NO!!! Eeew!! Who wants to sleep with a dirty old mattress? Not us! So what do you do with your dirty old mattress?
Do you dump it in the street?

Do you dump it along a fence?

Do you dump it near the light rail?

Do you dump it in a field?

Or do you dump it in the landfill where over 20,000,000 mattresses end up every year. That's right, 20 million mattresses!!! They don't disappear over night either. It takes years for them to break down. The sad part is, everything used to make a mattress is usually 95-100% recyclable. The difficulty is taking them apart and separating these different materials for use in new products. We're up to the challenge though, so on July 1st, 2011, we'll start recycling mattresses! So join us in cutting down on Charlotte's waste stream. The next time you're ready to throw that mattress to the curb, think about where it will go. We can assure you, if the city picks it up, it's going to the dump.

So spend a few bucks and assure your mattress lives on forever!

VW Jetta gets a makeover!

2011-04-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

We have been wanting to add some flare to our 2009 VW Jetta for some time now. We finally found some time to drop her off at the sign shop for these slick, VW Racing inspired graphics. We'll post some better pictures soon. What do you think?

2011 St Patrick's Day Parade

2011-03-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

Junk Rescue was out in force at the 2011 St. Patrick's Day Parade. With family and friends, we had 8 participants this year and beautiful weather only made this better. The parade made for a great venue to announce our Mattress Recycling operation beginning July 1st, 2011!

St. Patrick's Day Parade

2011-03-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

St Patrick's Day is just around the corner! Here is a photo of our premier in the 2009 St. Patrick's Day Parade. Look for us this Saturday as we show off our new graphics and our new 'Single Stream' recycling bins in the 2011 St. Patrick's Day Parade.

See you there!!

Identity Crisis

2011-03-10T07:01:00.000-08:00

In order to overcome confusion in our business name and better promote our brand, we removed the large 1-800# from the side of of our trucks. We felt that the phone number being displayed this large caused people to think that our business name was "1800JUNK911" when it is in fact, "Junk Rescue" There have been countless occasions when clients or citizens have referred to us as the "1800JUNK" guys or the "JUNK911" crew or "1800JUNK911". We felt that this confusion was not good for the future of the JUNK RESCUE brand so we decided to accept the expense of having the truck re-lettered before we did any more damage.

We spent the better part of a day working on removing the 1800# which was not an easy or fun task. We then had to remove the excess adhesive and wax the sides of the truck so that the ghost image of the 1800# would not be as easy to see. We decided that next time we'll just pay the pros to remove any old graphics.

Here's the truck prior to removing excess adhesive and waxing the sides. As you can see, the 1800# was still showing up pretty good. We were nervous about this but after a good clean and wax, it was not nearly as noticeable.

We took our baby to Broome Sign Co. in Concord to have her new letters installed. We are very excited to show off her new graphics in the QC. Throw up a wave if you see us around!

Cans for Kids

2011-02-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed a small red trailer at the corner of our warehouse. This is a collection trailer for aluminum soda cans. Junk Rescue is proud to partner with the North Carolina Firefighters' Burned Children Fund to donate all proceeds from the collection of these aluminum cans. By keeping aluminum cans separate from your regular recycling, they are more valuable and therefore we are paid for the weight of aluminum collected. 100% of the money that we collect from these cans is transferred directly to the burned children fund. Feel free to help us out with this worthy cause. If you would like to donate your aluminum cans, feel free to throw them into this trailer. It is just inside our fence so you should have no problem tossing your cans from the street. No worries if you miss, we miss all the time.

We'll tidy up later.

North Carolina Firefighters' Burned Children Fund

Junk Rescue's New Address

2011-01-04T14:42:00.000-08:00

628 E. 27th St.

Junk Rescue is proud to announce our new home at 628 E. 27th St in Charlotte, NC. We are excited to be a part of the vibrant, NoDa neighborhood. Our new location is right across the street from Amelie's Bakery. We thought this would be a good thing, but so far we are spending too much time and money enjoying their yummy treats. Unfortunately, our facility is not open to the public but we hope to get approval soon to become a recycling drop off center. If approved, we would be able to accept your standard recyclable in addition to electronics, batteries, light bulbs, furniture, and even mattresses! We are very interested in our facility becoming a symbol for recycling in the community. Keep an eye on our warehouse as we will continue to alter its appearance as opportunities present themselves. If you have any artistic ideas for our address, feel free to send us an email or give us a shout.
Keep checking back!

Single Stream Recycling

2010-07-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Single Stream Recycling is Here!!!

Single stream recycling began today in Charlotte, NC. The City of Charlotte only provides this service for residential properties and will not pick up recycling for businesses. Junk Rescue however is happy to offer single stream recycling to discerning Charlotte businesses and institutions. For a detailed list of accepted materials, check out our single stream recycling list above. If you have any questions or would like to begin single stream service, feel free to give us a call or email us.

info@junkrescue.com

HELP US, HELP CHARLOTTE!

2010-05-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

*This truck is NOT ours, but an example of what ours could look like*

Operate the 1st Natural Gas Powered Recycling Truck in Charlotte, NC

Charlotte, NC has one of the highest levels of air pollution in the state. A natural gas recycling truck would allow Junk Rescue to do our part in reducing Charlotte’s climate changing pollution. As a recycling company, we feel passionately that our vehicle selection reflects highly on our commitment to the environment and our community. We are determined the only meritable option for us is to purchase an environmentally friendly, natural gas powered recycling truck for our expanding collection needs. The cost of a brand new recycling truck is staggering, let alone the added natural gas technology. That is why we are looking towards our supporters and PEPSI to make our dreams come true! We want to be the first company in Charlotte, NC and possibly the entire state to operate a recycling truck that is powered solely by clean burning, natural gas.

Beginning May 1, 2010, you will be able to vote for us daily. At the end of the month, if we are one of the top two vote receivers in our funding request category, Junk Rescue’s big idea will be funded. This is your chance to help Junk Rescue make a difference for our environment and our community! We can only do it with your support! Thank You!

VOTE NOW, VOTE DAILY...

www.refresheverything.com/junkrescue

Coming Soon... Junk Rescue's Headquarters!

2010-02-23T19:26:00.000-08:00

Junk Rescue is currently in final negotiations with a local property management company in regards to a new headquarters facility for our recycling operations. At this time we are unable to release any information about the whereabouts of this 'top secret' facility for fear of premature release of tabloids and inundation of fan mail. We can promise however that we will be bringing our recycling vibe to an exciting inner-city neighborhood very soon!

In keeping with our corporate mission to 'Give Junk a Second Chance', we have selecting a deserving local warehouse in need of some good lovin'. We came across her one day while out rescuing some junk from a local business. It was a rainy day, as most days have been lately here in the QC. We were not even really looking for a new home but then we saw her. We knew right away that she was the one. She had sat empty and neglected for the last couple of years, patiently waiting for new tenants to come take care of her. Were we the ones?

We'll See...

Changing the way we think about waste starts with our youth.

2010-02-01T10:14:00.000-08:00

Changing the way we think about waste starts with our youth.

At Junk Rescue, we are waging war on trash and we know the key to this battle starts with our school children. Recycling does not have to be just another tedious chore. Recycling should be a fun and worthwhile activity. We can use it as an opportunity to connect with our kids (and our parents), educate our students (and our faculty), enhance our community (and our environment), and so much more. Recycling is a wonderful way to educate your faculty and students but also inspire them to be better stewards of our environment.

It is up to us to set the standard!

Merry Christmas, from Junk Rescue!

2009-12-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

Sonoco Open House

2009-10-15T19:18:00.000-07:00

Junk Rescue attended an open house today at Sonoco's Charlotte Recycling Center. Sonoco, one of the largest global packaging companies, just completed an expansion of their recycling facility located at 3901 Barringer Drive. They will now be able to process even larger volumes of recycled materials, including glass, plastic, and metal containers.

The $2 million expansion takes the Charlotte facility to approximately 24,000 square feet while adding state-of-the-art sorting and baling equipment. In addition, the center's yard space has been redesigned to improve traffic flow and unloading at the facility. Sonoco's Charlotte facility used to only accept and process corrugated cardboard and other grades of paper products. As of Monday, they will now be able to accept plastic, glass, and metal containers mixed in with paper and cardboard. Through a material sorting process, they will be able to separate all of the materials from each other before shipping it to their different packaging centers. This makes Sonoco the first zero sort recycling facility in the Charlotte region.

http://www.sonoco.com/sonoco

Plastic Bottles Are BANNED!

2009-10-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

During the 2005 legislative session, the N.C. General Assembly passed House Bill 1465, banning plastic bottles from disposal effective October 1, 2009. The law does not apply to containers that are intended for use in the sale and distribution of motor oil or plastic pesticide bottles.

Recycling plastic bottles conserves energy and resources and creates jobs; more than 14,000 people are employed in the recycling industry in North Carolina. Bottles can be recycled back into plastic bottles, or can have a completely new life as a different product - such as carpet, lumber, other types of containers or even clothing. North Carolina and the southeast are home to plastic plants hungry for material to make new products, so recycling your bottles is a great way to close the recycling loop!

At least 95 percent of North Carolina residents have access to some type of plastic bottle recycling through local government programs. Unfortunately, North Carolinians currently only recycle 18 percent of PET plastic bottles. Do your part - recycle plastic bottles - and explore this site to learn how!

http://www.p2pays.org/BannedMaterials/PlasticBottles/index.asp

Parking Deck Disaster

2009-07-22T09:47:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to keep a multi-tenant property tidy. It’s even harder when the company that is taking away the bulk items from your property discontinues their service. With more items coming in each day, and nothing going out, something had to be done.

Junk Rescue was called for this emergency pick up in downtown Charlotte. It was not an ordinary location, but to our surprise was on top of a parking deck. This became the destination for tenants and workers to bring unwanted items, including 7 wood pallets, 6 mattresses/boxsprings, 5 3-yd rolling dumpsters, 5 large commercial trash cans, 4 couches, 2 small trash cans, 1 futon, 1 washer, shelves, office chairs, etc.

The sorting began! Each parking space became the territory for a different material. Junk Rescue recycled all wood, bulk plastics, appliances, and metal. Unfortunately, because of the condition of the furniture being outside in the rain and having insects dwelling in the furniture, these items could not be salvaged. It was a sad day. Junk Rescue despises going to the landfill, so a reminder to everyone…keep quality items that can be donated in a safe place so others can benefit and we can continue to ‘give junk a second chance!’

Realtor's Care Day

2009-04-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

With the economy in shambles and more and more people struggling to pay for home repairs, the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association decided to take action. On April 24, 600 Realtors put aside their usual ambition of selling homes and volunteered to help repair houses for low income families, as well as some elderly and disabled homeowners.

The event was known as Realtors Care Day. While the sun tested everyone’s strength, these Realtors were determined to help those in need. Over 30 homeowners were helped out by mainly Realtors, but also professionals such as builders, developers, painters, roofers, and home inspectors. Junk Rescue was on scene and assisted where ever possible in moving materials to and from sites.

If you would like to help next year or would like to know more about the event, please contact the Housing Opportunity Foundation at crrafoundation@carolinahome.com.

Early Times CleanOut

2009-04-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

Junk Rescue was called to assist in cleaning out the home of an elderly man. The man was unfortunately a severe pack rat in his old age and managed to fill his entire 3 bedroom/2bathroom home to the point that you could not see the floors. The house was mostly filled with VHS tapes, newspapers, 2 liter Coke bottles, and Early-Times Whiskey bottles. We think we figured out what his favorite drink was. After visiting the property, Junk Rescue accepted the challenge and called in some dumpsters from our friends at Novem Waste. Three days later, we had the 1200 sq/ft ranch house completely empty, including the removal of appliances and fixtures. It took 2, 30 yard construction dumpsters, 1, 20 yard construction dumpster, and 2 trips with our 15 yard truck to haul off all of the material. Believe it or not, we were able to recycled over 300 pounds of plastic bottles and about 500 pounds of newspapers and magazines. We also recycled a washer and dryer, 2 refrigerators, a freezer, a microwave, and numerous tv's and other electronics.