What do your neighbors see when you open your garage door? Is your 3-car garage so cluttered that there is no room for even 1 car? What if you were to reach up into the rafters to pull something down? Would you start an avalanche of falling debris? Then it is time to clean up and organize so you can pull the cars in for the winter. You will need to rent a dumpster to make it easier to get rid of all the trash.

Perhaps you have accumulated a lot items that need to be properly stored, repaired, or returned to people whom you borrowed them from. Now is the time to get organized to make room for seasonal storage, like the BBQ grill and lawn furniture. This is going to be a big project, so plan ahead and allow plenty of time to get it done.

The first thing to do is decided what size and type of dumpster you will need. Order it now to allow time for the dumpster rental company time to be sure one is available and you're on the delivery schedule. Sure, the dumpster rental costs money, but it saves a lot of time and trouble for getting rid of the trash. There is a limit as to how much can be placed at the curb and there are items that your regular trash pick up does not allow you to set out. A rented dumpster will allow you to get rid of it all at once.

Pre-planning and organization is the key to efficiency. Park the cars on the street so you can use the driveway as a place to sort everything into piles. Completely empty the garage and sweep it clean. Build shelves or install some cabinets while you have the additional room to work. This will be helpful in finding a good place to put all the smaller items that were tucked away and difficult to find before.

Ok, the garage is empty and the driveway is a mess! Now that you can see everything, decide what goes and what stays. Where does it go? Into separate piles, of course! Organize it by category, for example, donation pile, next year's yard sale pile, borrowed items to be returned, etc? The rest goes into the dumpster!

Save time; handle each item just once! Pick it up, decide where it goes and put it there; in the designated pile, on the new shelf, in the new cabinet, or in the dumpster. If you're unsure of an item, like something you've been holding onto in case it comes in handy sometime, now is the time to make a decision. A good rule of thumb is if you've had it for a year or more and it hasn't proved to be useful yet, it probably never will. Throw it out! Continue sorting in this manner until the driveway is clean, the dumpster is full and the garage is nicely organized

Decide how to arrange everything in the garage. Everyday items like tools or things used on a regular basis should be stored in an easily accessible location. Seasonal items and holiday decorations can be placed on high shelves or up in the rafters area. Be sure to allow space for easy access to the lawn mower, bicycles and other large items that will need to be taken in and out regularly. If you're really well organized, you'll have easy access to these items whether the cars are in the garage or not.

Breathe a sigh of relief when the project is complete and the dumpster is being rolled away. Promise yourself to be more organized in the future; remember how much time and effort went into this project. Remember Grandma's words of wisdom, ?A place for everything and everything in its place!? Now you can rest easy and be glad that you are able to pull the cars in for the winter months to come.

This article was written by Sherman Rogers of All-waste, LLC, a dumpster rental company who provides dumpster delivery service and same-day dumpster pick-up to residential, commercial, retail and industrial customers. All Waste, LLC was started 1998 by Sherman Rogers with a single Mack truck and 12 roll-off dumpsters. Today Rogers, president & founder of All Waste, now runs an all-Mack fleet of 18 trucks and more than 1200 dumpsters. All Waste has the size, shape and competitive priced dumpster for any size job. Visit http://thegarbageman.com/ for more information about services offered.

Contact:

ALL WASTE, LLC

4751 22 Mile Road

Shelby Township, MI 48317-1515

Phone:877-524-1002 Fax: 586-254-9936

Web site: http://thegarbageman.com/

Email: sherman@all-waste.com