1-800-Got Junk? truck team member Justin Hardy

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above: Justin Hardy riding the range

Jeff Hardy and Nathaniel "Than" McClure were intrigued when they learned that there are more than 100,000 small junk removal companies in the US, but not one in Santa Barbara. So they joined together to open a Santa Barbara franchise of the Canada-based recycling business called 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, providing full-service removal and recycling. They take away everything from old furniture to used kitchen appliances, and estimate that in Santa Barbara they are able to recycle or donate 95 percent of everything they pick up, with only about five percent going to the landfill. "We actually came up with the concept about a year ago," said McClure, "when I moved out of my last apartment and needed to get rid of a ton of old stuff. It struck me as a great business opportunity." So in 2006, Hardy and McClure, though they live in Los Angeles, set up a shop in Santa Barbara, which for the past six months has been managed by Nathan Feldman, a veteran of 1-800-GOT JUNK? operations from Alaska to South Carolina. "It's going really great," McClure said. "We were surprised about how much the community welcomed the business. Santa Barbara is such a green and environmentally conscious place, and we were excited that people got it."

On Earth Day, in April, McClure and Hardy will be holding a free-of-charge e-waste drive, collecting electronic waste.

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