Super Service Award for Ecofriendly Hauling Company

Gone for Good, LLC Earns Coveted Angie’s List Super Service Award

Award reflects businesses’ consistently high level of customer service

Gone for Good, LLC has been awarded the prestigious 2012 Angie’s List Super Service Award, an honor bestowed annually on approximately 5 percent of all the businesses rated on the nation’s leading provider of consumer reviews on local service and health providers.

“We would like to thank all of our customers that took the time to provide Angie’s List their haul away experience they had with Gone for Good,” replied owner Reid Husmer.

“Only a fraction of the businesses rated on Angie’s List can claim the sterling service record of being a Super Service Award winner because we set a high bar,” said Angie’s List Founder Angie Hicks. “The fact that Gone for Good can claim Super Service Award status speaks volumes about its dedication to consumers.”

Angie’s List Super Service Award winners have met strict eligibility requirements including earning a minimum number of reports, an exemplary rating from their clients and abiding by Angie’s List operational guidelines.

Ratings are updated daily on Angie’s List, but members can find the 2012 Super Service Award logo next to business names in search results on AngiesList.com.

Angie’s List collects consumer reviews on local contractors and doctors in more than 500 service categories. Currently, more than 2 million consumers across the U.S. rely on Angie’s List to help them make the best hiring decisions. Members get unlimited access to local ratings via Internet or phone, exclusive discounts, the Angie’s List magazine and help from the Angie’s List complaint resolution service. Take a quick tour of Angie’s List and view the latest Angie’s List news .

January 13, 2012 | Awards, Uncategorized | No Comments »

---

Spring is Here and Junk is Gone

In our previous blog we talked about the dangers of dust and how junk in your basement, AKA dust collectors, are often a home for this dangerous particle. While these hidden items in your basement are often why our services are utilized we can also assist in your spring cleaning in many other ways. While you are doing your spring cleaning we ask that you keep our services in mind.

There are many different approaches to spring cleaning. For some it means attacking the basement and clearing out that cold dark corner to make room for exercise equipment. For others it may be clearing out that unsused exercise equipment to make room for a media room. Some may not even think of it as cleaning but more “out with the old and in with the new”. In those cases it is often a new couch to replace the heavily worn one that is covered in stains and holes in the upholstery. Or a new flat-panel TV to replace the antiquated projection TV.

Regardless of your approach to spring cleaning there is a way that Gone for Good can help. If you are cleaning out your basement all you have to do is seperate the items that you want to keep from the items that you want gone…for good. You don’t even need to centrally locate them or haul them upstairs. Part of our service fee includes removing items from your home regardless of their location; basement, third floor, or storage shed, we will do all the leg work.

If you are using the “out with the old and in with the new” approach, we can help get the old out. You can’t and shouldn’t just throw your old mattress, TV or couch in or next to the dumpster. We have seen countless items find new homes in the alley that stay there for many many days even months. The Waste Management employee does not care how long it stays there, they are not allowed to pick them up. These large items already unnecessarily overfill landfills. When we remove these large items we utilize all the resources possible to break down and recycle as much as possible. In our previous blog we talk about the process of recycling these large items.

By utilizing our service you will also get back a detailed spreadsheet of the items that we picked up and where the items ended up; either sold, recycled, or donated. Along with the spreadsheet is a check for 30% of the profit from the sale of the items. You can feel good when we remove the items from your home knowing that we exhaust all resources to find the appropriate home for each item.

April 11, 2011 | Cleaning, Cleaning Tips, Denver, Green Tips, Household, Recycling, Uncategorized | No Comments »

---

The Dangers of Dust

In our line of work it is not uncommon to come in excessive contact with “dust collectors”. Yes, items in your basement that have been long forgotten since they were relegated to the deep recesses of your cave. I know that it is easy to use the “out of sight, out of mind” mindset but the fact that they are out of sight does not mean they not affecting your health. And these dust collectors are not the only source of this dangerous dust. Just 5 days after cleaning my home I can already see dust on every surface in the house, especially those areas that are rarely used, i.e. the TV stand, window sills, and corners of the living room.

You may be thinking, “OK, OK, I will get out the duster more often”. This is a good start but there are other precautions that can be taken to control these dangerous particles. Dead skin cells, animal fur,
decomposing insects, food debris, lint and organic fibers from clothes, bedding and other fabrics, tracked-in soil, soot, particulate matter from smoking and cooking may not sound dangerous and harmful but what about arsenic, lead, and DDT? Everything listed above is commonly found in household dust.

Arsenic, even in very low concentrations, can pose health risks. Infants and small children are especially at risk because they come in close contact with the floors and also frequently transfer things from their hand to their mouths.

Lead also makes its way into homes via exhaust, paint, soil deposits and smelting. Again infants and small children tend to have higher blood-lead levels due to their close proximity to the floors and carpet.

Regular vacuuming of the floor will help reduce the amount of harmful particles in your home but they will likely never be completely removed. Other beneficial practices include eating at the dinner table instead of you desk, living room, etc. The more food debris that is around your house the more insects it attracts that will eventually die and decompose. Regular vacuuming will also remove the unwanted dead skin cells which attract dust mites. Dust mites shed allergens which triggers reactions to those suffering from aesthma.

April 11, 2011 | Cleaning, Cleaning Tips, Household | No Comments »

---

Charging the Battery Recycling Options

Batteries…you use them every day when you turn on the TV, talk on your phone, take a picture, and drive your car. Luckily that battery in your car or the rechargeable battery in your phone is easily and affordably recycled, more on that later. It is the single-use alkaline batteries that are in toys, remote controls, flashlights, etc that require a more tedious recycling process due to their design and contents.

Approximately 180,000 tons of batteries are thrown away every year, according to www.earth911.com, with approximately 166,000 of those being single use batteries. Batteries that sit in the landfill represent significant hazards to the environment. Those single use batteries are made up of heavy metals such as mercury, nickel and lead. As the batteries break down those substances are leaked into the air, ground, and water sources.

Where do we begin to address this problem? The easy answer would be to make the switch to rechargeable batteries where it is appropriate. Those rechargeable batteries contain properties that are easily recycled and there is most likely a free drop off location in your neighborhood. After a quick search on www.earth911.com I found over 20 locations within 5 miles of my house which included ace Hardware, RadioShack, and Verizon.

Why are rechargeable batteries not more prevalent? It could be the initial cost of getting a rechargeable setup. You could easily fork out $70 on batteries and a charging station. That seems like a lot when you compare that to spending $5 on eight AA batteries that will power your wireless mouse for a year. But you need to realize that once that year is up and you are again out of batteries you would still be circulating the rechargeable batteries for much longer. It is a higher initial cost but you get longer life and more uses.

We all have dead single use batteries lying around…how do you recycle them? Another search on www.earth911.com resulted in eight drop-off locations for single use batteries. In the past we have used Interstate All Battery Center. The last time we were there, about 2 months ago, they were still accepting all batteries for free however there was talk of the company possibly introducing a fee for single use batteries.

Whether it is your old car battery or dead rechargeable or single use battery, please use the appropriate resource to recycle them. Odds are there is a recycling center within a few miles of you. I would suggest stockpiling your dead batteries until you have a enough to justify a recycling trip.

January 4, 2011 | Green Tips, Recycling | No Comments »

---

Mattress Recycle Day

Help us celebrate America Recycles Day!

Colorado Recycling Services and Gone for Good will be in central Denver to recycle your old box spring and mattress. Price will be $8.00 for any size mattress and $12.00 for box spring and mattress. Great opportunity to reduce clutter, save money, and help the environment!

October 19, 2010 | Denver, Recycling | No Comments »

---

7 easy ideas to ‘green up’ your wedding day, a true story from an Ann Arbor couple

Did you know that an Ann Arbor couple ‘greened’ up their wedding ceremony and you could do it too?

It was in August 2010, the Ann Arbor couple (Engel and Dyer) were married in a “green” outdoor marriage ceremony and reception near the Huron River fit to pay homage to their shared love of the planet and the outdoors.

The trend toward green weddings certainly isn’t new, but industry professionals say it has evolved to allow husbands and wives to incorporate their unique personal preferences and still afford their big day.

Most people would like to try a green wedding and once they hear about what it really entails, they turn out going a different route. Our heroes Engel and Dyer made the decision they wouldn’t be able to keep everything totally green, but were going to try their hardest. And the most essential element was to make the day informative as well as fun for guests.

They planned the marriage at a science and nature center where tours were offered to guests in the hour before they walked down the aisle. The tour featured different water and energy conservation technologies used at the center like the solar-panel arrays for electricity, solar-powered heating and water heater systems and no-flush compost toilets.

The couple also focused on little details they said make a big difference.

- Dyer wore an heirloom – a vintage green dress that had been her great-grandmother’s in the 1930’s.
- Her ring was made with recycled gold and had a beryl stone instead of a diamond.
- Her makeup was certified organic.
- Guests were given local lavender buds – rather than sachets of rice – to throw in celebration.
- Tables were covered with local wildflowers and locally sourced foods.
- Leftovers and unused food were recycled (by sending to local farms) or reused.
- They found a generator which was solar powered and able to produce enough power to run the lights and the sound system they needed for the rock band.

For all their efforts, they still made some choices they knew weren’t the most eco-friendly options.

While they served Michigan white wine and a Michigan sparkling cider, they couldn’t find a red from the state they liked. So they decided to have a burgandy or merlot wine from the U.S. for that option. And they could’ve gone with Internet invites rather than printing and mailing invitations, but Dyer said she felt paper invitations were important – on recycled paper, of course.

So you? What can You do to ‘green up’ your ceremony day?

While green weddings are becoming more common, planning and pulling off the event is not as easy as one could imagine.

Sorting through claims of environmentally friendliness when shopping in today’s marketplace is a big enough problem for ordinary purchases, let alone for such an emotionally charged and personal event as a wedding.

The best way to reduce the impact of an event is to perform a life cycle analysis on different elements of the marriage. For instance, where is that food coming from, how much energy is expended to produce it, how does it get to your plate and where do the leftovers go?

While meat typically takes more energy to produce than fruits and vegetables, considering how far some fruits and vegetables must travel might let them have a larger carbon footprint.

The best way to minimize an event’s carbon footprint is to cut back on the number of guests invited. Fewer guests mean fewer meals, fewer needs for centerpieces and other decor and fewer miles traveled to reach the ceremony.

About the writer – Lucy Thomason posts articles for the event planning degree blog, her personal hobby web log focused on suggestions to help people figure out how to organize a green event to spend less energy and reduce carbon footprints.

September 24, 2010 | Green Tips | No Comments »

---

Didn’t Sell? Not Suitable to Donate? Here is What We Do with Those Items.

First and foremost we always try to get the best rebate check back to our customers by aggressively selling the items on Craigslist and eBay but sometimes there is no market/buyer for the item. If we are unable to sell the item we go even further and still try to find a new home for it by donating to charity. But let’s face it… some things are just not safe, sanitary or “new” enough to find a new home. In this case we do our best to salvage every recyclable piece out of the item thus eliminating by-product that must get thrown away. Here are some of our recycling partners that we commonly use.

Mountain States Wood Recyclers is our recycling partner for all wood that we accumulate. We generate scrap wood from the sofas that we dissect, the wood furniture that is in bad shape or even tree trimmings that we pick up from customers yards. Mountain States will accept all wood so long as it is broken down, contains nails no longer than 3.5”, and is free of Formica. Once the wood is dropped off at Mountain States it is sent through a chipper and repurposed as mulch. So if you have left over wood from construction or a season’s worth of tree trimmings, Mountain States Wood Recyclers is a great and affordable option for appropriately disposing of it.

Along with wood construction debris from a remodel or build often comes excess carpeting. When we get carpet scraps, carpet samples, etc. we take them to Colorado Recycling Services (CRS). CRS is a local company trying to reduce the two largest solid waste problems in the country: carpet and mattresses. CRS has a zero landfill policy and has their own recycling outlets for all materials that make up carpet and mattresses. As mentioned above we occasionally have to dissect sofas that are no longer fit for sale or donation. In addition to recycling the wood frame we also take the yellow foam that is used as cushions to CRS.

Electronics… this year old laptop that I am typing on right now is probably considered obsolete by now. There is always going to be a better computer, DVD player, television etc. Since we are a highly consumer driven nation there will always be someone willing to buy the new 3D TV which means it is out with the old stuff. We commonly pick up computers, CRT monitors, tube TVs, VCRs and these items are difficult to sell. For items like these we use Luminous Recycling, our electronics recycling partner. Luminous uses highly advanced processes and machines to break down the electronics they receive. CRT monitors and televisions go through a machine called the CRT Angel which precisely separates the leaded and unleaded portions of the tube facilitating the reuse of the glass portions. Of the electronics they process a very small percentage of materials ends up as by-product.

We were excited when we found Third Way Center, a residential treatment and educational facility for troubled teens. We learned that a lot of the teens were using garbage bags as luggage when traveling from house to house. We immediately knew how we could help Third Way Center. We often get suitcases which are not popular items on craigslist or eBay. It is good to know that we will be able to find new and very much appreciative owners of the suitcases that we receive.

All types of metals are used in the manufacturing of everyday items. If those items are suitable for sale or donation we must dissect them and remove all metal parts. Electronics have insulated copper wires in the power cords, nuts and bolts from vacuum cleaners and entire washing machines can be metal recycled. We take our scrap metal to Western Metal Recycling. They will pay you by the ton and rates depend on what type of metal you are recycling.

We are happy to have developed relationships with these companies and are indebted to them for helping us responsibly recycle items that we accumulate. This is a big part of our business and we must continue to find ways to recycle even the small amounts of by-product that we produce.

August 12, 2010 | Green Tips, Recycling | No Comments »

---

What to do with your excess Styrofoam

What exactly is “Styrofoam” and how can you recycle it?

Styrofoam is a generic term for polystyrene foam. In 1941 Dow Chemical Company trademarked the name Styrofoam for their closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam, XPS, which is also very similar to expanded polystyrene, EPS. Styrofoam was originally used in thermal applications because of its resistance to moisture and insulating properties. It was later adopted by the U.S. Coast Guard because of its buoyancy and used to make life rafts. In today’s applications you will most commonly come across EPS in packaging materials, food containers, coolers, etc.

Styrofoam makes for excellent protective material when packaging and transporting goods. Unfortunately it takes a lot of Styrofoam to adequately protect a 46” LCD TV and a lot of it ends up in the landfill. Studies have shown that as little as 10-12% of Styrofoam is recycled and one can only guess where the other 90% ends up. A single Styrofoam cup will take more than 500 years to completely degrade.

Thankfully there is a local resource, ACH Foam Technologies, who will accept and recycle your clean, non-food container XPS and EPS foam. I need to emphasize clean because this is important. Make sure there is no tape, residue, paper, etc. on the Styrofoam. It must be clean Styrofoam. Also ACH will not accept Styrofoam food containers because of the leftover food residue.

ACH essentially grinds it up into loose Styrofoam pellets and then compacts them into more manageable and appropriately shaped bricks. Now you have a resource that can appropriately reuse your excess Styrofoam.

ACH Foam Technologies, LLC
5250 Sherman Street
Denver, CO 80216-1938
(303) 297-3844

View Larger Map

June 30, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments »

---

Cyclists Rejoice! Cycling Routes Added to Google Maps

Bicycle routes have been a long time request of Google Map users and cyclists alike, and agreeably a well needed one. The largest push for bicycling directions on Google Maps started with Peter Smith in Austin, TX. As an avid cyclist who was frustrated with his daily battle against aggressive and sometimes angry motorists, Smith started an online petition and after 2 years enticed more than 50,000 people to sign an online petition for biking directions on Google Maps. Google listened and as of March 10, 2010 Google now offers Bicycling directions as an option on their maps.

Google does more than just direct you to the nearest bike path. Google has tapped into the existing detailed bike route mapping of more than 150 US cities. Google even takes it a step further and uses sophisticated mapping algorithms to generate routes that avoid congested and dangerous intersections, steep hills, areas that require too much braking, and in general areas that would require”an unreasonable degree of exertion.”

How well does it work?

Since the typical winter weather conditions here in Denver had taken a backseat to more cycling friendly spring weather, I decided to create a bike route from my house to my office using Google Maps. I entered in the waypoints, got the results and studied the directions. The next morning I pedaled off with hopes of a care-free cycling friendly route.

The first 2 miles took me on a pleasant ride through my neighborhood and lead me to the Platte River Trail which was an enjoyable, scenic trail that followed the Platte River for about 5 miles. When it came time to turn off the Platte River trail I noticed that Google Maps wanted me to take 3.5 miles worth of dirt/gravel trail. If I were on my mountain bike I would have had no problem with this trail however I feared my 700×23c tires were ill-equipped to handle that terrain. I got out my iPhone and tried to find a good route to replace those 3.5 miles that I was unable to follow. I was able to find a route through a neighborhood that almost paralleled the dirt trail. I met up with the end of the dirt trail and continued on the suggested biking route that Google generated for me. The remaining mile was easy and took me right to the door of my office.

Overall the route was great with the exception of the dirt trail. Since this bicycling feature on Google Maps is new I completely understand that there will be some bugs when generating routes. Google has a section where you can report problems like these.

Google will be constantly updating and adding more routes and trails to this service in the coming months. Have fun with it! You may find that there is a safer, easier and better route from your house the grocery store.

June 4, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments »

---

Here is a full-circle example of recycling and reuseing everyday items.

Forget your reusable bags when you went grocery shopping? Get paper bags and save them when you get home.

Get a package in the mail? Save the box and set it aside in the basement.

Need to wrap a gift? Use the paper grocery bags as wrapping paper. It gives the gift a simple yet sophisticated look.

Need to ship that gift? Head down to the basement and grab a shipping box that you saved.

Get a lot of junk mail? Use one of the paper grocery bags as a vessel to store all of that junk mail.

Need some stuffing for the package you are shipping? Grab some of the junk mail that you have been collecting and stuff away.

Simple tips like these can go a long ways and help spark other ideas or new uses for your everyday items. And the examples listed above hardly tap into the full reusing potential of some of the items.

For me Tuesday is junk mail day. I know that when I get home from work I will find a rather large pile of the latest and greatest deals from every grocery store within 50 miles. Here are some ideas of what to do with your ecxess junk mail.

And if you forget your reusable bags and the cashier asks, “Paper or Plastic?” have no fear. There are a lot of creative uses for plastic bags which can be found here and those paper bags have their uses as well which are here.

April 13, 2010 | Green Tips, Recycling | No Comments »

---