MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - It’s that time of year again; spring cleaning. Spring cleaning can feel like an impossible task to accomplish, but Trevor Hoover, the owner of Reclaimed by Design, gave some tips on how anyone can get started.

Hoover said the best advice he could give is to first get organized, making sure you sort out what you want to keep, from what you want to get rid of. After that, he suggested tackling your objects.

“I would go big stuff first and then work your way down to smaller stuff,” Hoover said. “Start with furniture, start with exercise machines, that kind of thing, and then work your way down.”

Hoover said once you can clear out the bigger items, you can bring them to Reclaimed by Design to either recycle or dispose of.

“As far as spring cleaning, if you’re cleaning out a mattress or something, we can take box springs and mattresses,” Hoover said. “We can take anything metal, so if you have old exercise equipment, or old bed frames, really anything metal, you can get recycled pretty easily.”

Hoover said most recycling centers offer a list of what they do and do not accept. Hoover said Reclaimed by Design accepts certain paper, cardboard, plastic, foam, glass and metal for recycling.

“We do take waste,” Hoover said. “We charge $2 per bag for like household waste, kitchen trash, garage trash, basement trash, that kind of thing. We take yard waste as well and we can take large items for stuff that can’t be recycled, usually that’s like couches, furniture, construction waste, that stuff can’t be recycled, there’s too many mixed materials in it.”

Hoover said if you are unsure if an item is recyclable or not, to give Reclaimed by Design a call or drive up and look at the labeled bins and signs.

“You can show up anytime we’re open, you pull right in, we usually have pretty big bright signs, and again if you have a question, you have something on the border, come find us,” Hoover said. “But really you can just pull right up to our containers, read the description on what it accepts and what it doesn’t and get rid of your waste.”

Hoover said cardboard and foam levels have increased by 2000% since 2019 and when the pandemic hit, so he said those containers fill up pretty quickly during spring cleaning season.

“We just ask, if you see a full container, either let us know, chances are we already do know, but just wait until the next day, we’ll have a container in place,” Hoover said.

Hoover said there are many benefits to spring cleaning.

“Well the space, I mean it’s the space No. 1, but you can recycle stuff too,” Hoover said. “A lot of appliances are metal which are easily recyclable. Not to mention getting old dusty stuff out of the air, out of your living space, it’s nice to take a breath of fresh air.”

Hoover said Reclaimed by Design can take anything outside of toxic waste.