As I lay on my back, contorted under the bathroom vanity, the faded Sharpie-written text under the old sink became clear in my headlamp light.
“Jim Elmer 4/7/80”
Apparently, 40 years earlier, some guy named Jim Elmer proudly installed this then-modern sink and cabinet, and in the process, he made the bottom of the basin his own personal time capsule, his name patiently lying in wait for someone to find it.
Now, four decades later, Jim’s style and tile had simply worn out their welcome. Minutes after discovering Jim’s leave-behind, his handy work was ripped from its caulked stronghold (Sorry, Jim) and replaced with a new cabinet top, faucet hardware, and sink, under which I had to write my name and date, of course.
As I carried all the old materials out of the house, a few things occurred to me:
First, there was simply no way I could fit all this in the trash can for our weekly pickup, even bits at a time.
Second, who could I call to affordably and responsibly haul this stuff away? And did I have enough stuff to make it worth someone’s while?
And third, should I track Jim down to say hi and let him know of my treacherous deed?
From what I’ve read, seen and heard, my home renovation story is not a unique one.
Being at home more due to the pandemic has led to a surge in home DIY projects (followed by calls to professionals to fix the DIY mess), higher wood prices, record profits at big box stores, and yes, an inordinate amount of renovation waste by homeowners, landlords and contractors.
That leads me to WastePlace, an online marketplace that connects those with junk with those who can haul said junk. They also off recycling services, recurring waste removal services, and dumpster rental.
uShip has formed a partnership with WastePlace whereby uShip customers, or those on uShip looking for waste removal, will be referred to WastePlace to get the job done.
Pricing is based on bids (similar to uShip’s auction model) so you know you’re getting market rates and not overpaying to get that waste hauled away.
While the Junk Removal category was something we tossed around for years at uShip (shout out to former colleague Austin Pollock), it never quite fit our business model, which today is focused on furniture, motorcycles, vehicles, boats, freight, and heavy equipment – anything but junk, for sure.
But junk is big business, especially today. And what can be a more cathartic process than getting rid of junk?
Now there’s an easy, affordable, trusted way to do it.
