What is Debris?

We use the word “debris” all the time but it seems like people use it in a lot of different ways. If someone asked you to define the word, maybe you’d begin by looking up its origin. It comes from an Old French term that meant “broken down.”

That’s a good start, but people in the debris removal business realize that there’s much more to it than that. In modern English usage, the word has multiple meanings, and debris removal professionals could probably rattle off a couple of dozen definitions of the term. For example, 80 Junk Car, from its Denver and Colorado Springs locations, performs debris removal services every day of the year.

Our teams have truly seen it all, mainly because we do a wide variety of junk removal work, like construction debris removal, clean-out of old houses, post-catastrophe clean-up jobs, and debris removal from storage spaces where people have hoarded massive amounts of worthless stuff.

What, exactly, do people mean when they use the word “debris”? Well, in addition to the conversational meaning used in everyday speech, there are at least a half-dozen other official ways the term is applied. Here’s a short list of the possible meanings of “debris.”

• Non-usable pieces of wood, metal, and other building materials left over after a construction project. Construction debris removal is considered the final step of the building process.

• Rooftop accumulations of leaves, tree limbs, built-up piles of dirt or dust, kids’ toys that were thrown up and never retrieved, old paint cans and broken pieces of equipment from prior repair work, A/C and heating units that long since stopped functioning and have simply been abandoned
• Household appliances that either don’t work or are ready to break down and need to be disposed of or recycled
• Ordinary garbage, including household trash, discarded food, and typical contents of waste bins
• Piles of worthless clothing, boxes of hoarded junk, and stored items that have little or no value
• Brush, grass clippings, mounds of dirt, and other types of natural materials that are either out of place or no longer of use to anyone
• Non-functional vehicles, bicycles, large boards, decayed construction materials, and chunks of drywall

And remember, the above is a short list of things included in the definition of “debris.”

What’s the Best Way To Get Rid of Debris?

What about the second question, namely how debris removal works? The 80 Junk Car Denver and Colorado Springs team looks at it like this:

Debris removal is one of those chores that few people want to face. That’s why there are so many garages, attics, basements, backyards, and storage cubes full of the stuff. But there are folks who take on small debris removal jobs themselves, especially when the amount of junk is small and not potentially hazardous.

Overall, there are various ways to deal with your debris, including the following:

• Dispose of it yourself by filling up your car or truck several times and making multiple trips to a recycling center or landfill, both of which are typically far away from residential areas
• Hire a professional junk removal and construction debris removal company like 80 Junk Car to make sure all recycled items go to the appropriate locations, usable items are donated to charities, and the worthless stuff goes directly to the nearest landfill
• Ask a friend to take do a small debris removal job for you
• Ignore the accumulation of junk until you get a notice from the city or county warning you to clean it up

It’s rather obvious that for anything but the smallest jobs, the smart choice is to use a company that has experience with debris removal of all kinds, knows the Denver and Colorado Springs area landfill and recycling locations by heart (like 80 Junk Car does), understand how to dispose of hazardous materials, and can make certain that all recyclables get taken care of properly.

For construction debris removal, household debris accumulation, storage space clean-out, and hazardous waste, you need expert help.