Hello! We’re Clever Clear Removals, an eco-friendly house clearance specialist operating in the Greater Manchester area. We’re helping you with your clearances without damaging your carbon footprint, recycling and rehoming up to 100% of the items you no longer need.
If you’re a regular reader of our blog, that intro might be a bit of a surprise, as this is admittedly late for an introduction. But we appreciate you clicking on anyway!
Since we’ve been doing these regular blogs for a while now, we thought it’d be nice to reintroduce ourselves, so that everyone understands what we do and how we do it differently.
Why we do Eco-Friendly House Clearances
CleverClear was formed in 2020 shortly after Tim Cullen, our founder, used the services of a local waste removal company for a house clearance.
Tim remembers; ‘The whole process was frustrating from start to finish. Communication was poor, the job was done carelessly, and then the house was left very untidily. Chatting with the person who carried out the work I found out also that all of the items, some of which were of good quality, would be going to landfill.
‘I started to wonder whether there was a better way to carry out this kind of work and began to investigate innovative recycling techniques. I also began to look into how to build relationships with individuals and organisations that could re-use some common items from clearances.’
Tim’s innovative ideas soon became a reality, and CleverClear quickly became a leader in the world of eco-friendly house clearances.
But what do we mean by ‘eco-friendly house clearances’? Well, when a clearance is kind to the environment, it means that no items end up on the landfill, or only those items that cannot be recycled or rehomed.
By recycling items, they’ll be turned into something new, and won’t spend decades wasting away on a harmful landfill. This gives you peace of mind, as clearances can be very wasteful otherwise, and it’s nice to know that your items will be useful again in the future.
That’s not our only eco-friendly method either! Unlike other house clearance specialists, we work hard to rehome your unwanted items. If you’re clearing out, for any reason, there will naturally be clothes, furniture, and appliances that are still in perfect working condition. Instead of sending items that work well to be recycled, we donate them to our local charities, so they can go to a new home and help people out. It’s our little contribution to the community and is something we’re very proud of.
How we Minimize our Emissions
Naturally, completing a house clearance can’t be done on foot or on public transport. We need our vehicles to travel to your home and then carry all the unwanted items to the recycling centres and/or charity shops. This is a few hours on the road, the emissions for which do add up.
However, we use electric vehicles as much as possible, so those miles aren’t burning petrol or diesel. We also minimise our time on the road by taking the shortest journeys possible.
Since we only work in the Greater Manchester area, we’re very familiar with the charity shops and recycling centres within reach. This means that we can take the shortest journeys and aren’t doing more miles than absolutely necessary.
Working locally has its advantages too. We love that we’ve built a community, and the relationships we have with our clients and local businesses has helped us grow exponentially.
The Importance of Quality House Clearances
Being eco-friendly is all well and good, but it doesn’t mean much if the job itself isn’t being done properly.
Thankfully, we take a lot of pride in our work and are one of the best house clearance providers in the north west as a result.
We’ve developed the perfect system for house clearances, going room by room methodically and removing items in a particular order. This not only keeps us moving, it also allows us to pack more into our van(s), which leads to fewer trips back and forth.
We’ll also be taking some time to unpack bags and boxes looking for items that can be rehomed. The time this takes can add up, and requires more floor space to organise each pile, but with our efficiency at maximum it doesn’t add up to much.
Safety is paramount during any house clearance, regardless of how many items there are. This is the primary reason why we ask the clients not to be present during the clearance, as there will be a lot of heavy items being moved and potential trip hazards.
We understand that this requires a lot of trust from you and your family. To help build this trust we always meet with you to discuss your needs, so that the house clearance is done in a way that you’ll be 100% satisfied with.
Looking to the Future
We love what we do, and as long as there are houses that need clearing, we’re more than happy to help.
But unlike other companies, for us expansion is a double-edged sword. We’d love to see our business grow, we’d be crazy if we didn’t, but our small, dedicated team is part of our identity.
The personal touch goes a long way in the house clearance business. Many of our clients are dealing with a bereavement, helping a loved one who’s a hoarder, or are clearing out their family home before they move away. We take the time to build a relationship with our clients, understanding why they need a clearance and adapting our services accordingly to be respectful.
That’s not the only reason we want to keep our team small; there’s the environmental impact too. If we were operating 7 days a week, with dozens of vans travelling up and down, our carbon footprint would be noticeably bigger. By keeping things small and personal, we’ll have minimal impact but won’t have to turn away people who need our help. It’s a tricky balance for sure, so we’ll have to see what the future holds.
