Failing to get rid of your junk the right way can land you in a hot mess, you know. Canada is a green and pleasant land, and we all have to help keep it that way. No one wants to see mountains of garbage, riddled with reusable and recyclable materials.

Did you know: Don’t throw that smartphone! Internal circuitry and even the shell of your phone can be recycled.

We take a look at a few simple ways to turn ‘trash into cash’*. Actually, there’s a greater and more serious point to this too. So much of what we dispose is in a condition that it can be recycled, repaired or even reused. It greatly helps reduce the damage to the environment and keeps our landfills from piling up.

Call Junk It if you need help with larger items.

*Figure of speech. Please don’t try selling your trash.

1. Yard Sale

Yard sales are a great way of cleaning up clutter and earning some cash. Furniture or décor may have lost your fancy, but it’s new for someone else. The best thing about a yard sale – you really think about what can be sold as opposed to being binned. Imagine, you are getting paid for your ‘waste’ and you don’t even need to haul it (just hawk it).

Good for: furniture, decorations, memorabilia, functional appliances

2. Aluminum cans

From Canada Dry to Budweiser, aluminum cans fill up our recycling bins in an unending sea. Not only are they going to be recycled, they’ll be generating someone a profit too. Instead, keep your cans and sell them off at a recycling centre near you. Make it a fortnightly or monthly routine, and watch the drinks pay for themselves (well, somewhat).

Good for: Aluminum cans, such as carbonated drinks, frozen foods

3. Scrap metal and cardboard

Actually, that advice can be applied to scrap metal and cardboard generally. Bicycles, leftover building materials, cardboard boxes and so much more can be sold for cash. What is ‘waste’ is the space in your garage storing all of this unused stuff. For instance, did you know metals such as copper (used in electrical wiring) are actually very valuable commodities? There are businesses thriving on such recycling trade.

Good for: Leftover building material, bicycles, cars, garden equipment, boxes, tools, electrical wiring

4. Habitat For Humanity

Let’s face it, so much of our junk is not actually irreparably damaged or ruined. As pro junk removers, we know that first-hand. Habitat for Humanity is a very laudable cause. Not only will they come to your home to pick up your furniture and appliances, you get a charitable tax receipt too. It may not feel like ‘cash in hand’ but it will make a difference come time to pay your taxes. Find out how much you could save in tax.

Good for: furniture, appliances, building material

5. Kijiji, Facebook, eBay, et al

Such great places to sell stuff you don’t need. One person’s smartphone with broken screen is another’s vaunted parts bin. There are takers for all sorts of stuff on the internet. Old electronics and gadgetry has a lot of collectible value. Help your old cassettes make a hipster feel at home again.

Good for: memorabilia, electronics, vintage gadgetry, furniture (and everything else, too?)

For all the things you can’t make money from, call Junk It to haul it away. We are junk hauling experts. Our customers agree too; how else do you get rated best of HomeStars for nine years!

Our team understands your home is your palace. We tread lightly when cleaning out your junk. Our full list of services is here. And we are trusted junk removal experts for furniture, yard waste, construction leftovers and more. Many of our customers make use of your dumpster and garbage bin rental too, in times of need.

One of the toughest parts of cleaning and decluttering your home is deciding what to get rid of. Many people hesitate to throw items away. Maybe they have an emotional attachment to them, maybe they feel that they could come in handy some day and maybe they just don’t like getting rid of things they own. Whatever the reason, it’s usually difficult for most people to throw out a large number of items.

Sometimes it’s an issue with letting go. You remember when you bought that couch 20 years ago and even though you sink to the floor when you sit down these days, you can’t bear to throw it away. Other times you feel like a failure for getting rid of something you honestly intended to use. We see this a lot with exercise equipment. You bought that ab machine six years ago and used it twice, but you’d feel like a quitter if you gave it away.

There are a few ways to decide what to throw away. One good method is to make quick, immediate decisions on things. Go through your clutter and quickly sort things into three piles.  Make a “keep” pile, a “throw away” pile and a “maybe” pile.  Don’t take a long time to make these decisions. Just quickly place things in piles based on your first instinct. When you’re done, split the “maybe” pile into the “keep” and “throw away” piles. Don’t second guess your decisions and don’t be irrational.

You have to be honest with yourself and truly put effort into your clean up. If you haven’t used something in over a year, honestly think about why you’re keeping it. Some items are mementos and you may want to keep those items, but a lot of the things you are saving are probably useless to you now.

Just because you once spent money on an item or just because something once worked is not a good reason to keep it. If items are broken or missing pieces, think about whether or not you can fix them. Then think about whether or not you actually WILL fix them. If the answer to either of those questions is “no” it’s time to say goodbye.

And if you’re worried about creating more garbage and filling up landfills, you can relax. Junk It recycles as much as we possibly can. On average, up to 60% of the items we pick up for disposal are recycled.  Some items are even donated to charitable organizations.

When it comes to cleaning and organizing, deciding what to throw away can be the most difficult part of the process. But with a little willpower and honesty you can cut down on your clutter and open up your home to all kinds of new opportunities.

Junk It once again is supplying dumpsters to Walk for Kids Help Phone on May 2nd in Toronto.

Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only toll-free, national, bilingual, phone and web counselling, referral and information service for children and youth.

Staffed by trained professional counsellors with a wide variety of backgrounds including social work, psychology, sociology, and child and youth services, Kids Help Phone helped Canadian kids in need from almost 3,000 communities more than 2.2 million times on the phone and online in 2008.

You can register or pledge a walker. Let’s all get out there and support this worthy cause!