by Maggie Zeibak

Germs ... Grime ... Maggots! These are not friendly little fellows crawling and enveloping your outside trash can, ready to kiss your hands and be transferred lovingly to everything you touch. In fact, these nasty entities are lazing around ready to invade, multiply and spread bacteria from the instant you open the lid until the moment you close it. Just one ripped bag spills decaying garbage and contaminates the entire can. Shall we say there are a few unwanted house-pets in our lives, but we unknowingly feed them with astonishing regularity?

Although we carefully dispose of kitchen waste in tightly drawn plastic bags, there are careless deposits not so securely tied, and a leaking package, doggie waste or rotting vegetables after a day in the sun, start to emit eye-watering odors. Embarrassingly, many of us will admit that we haven’t cleaned our trash cans in months, um...years if we must be honest, not wanting to roll out the hose and long-handled brush for a major project. Trying to get the bleach, vinegar or disinfectant up the sides involves a lot of hard work and then there is the problem of disposing of the water solution.

Scummy deposits of baking soda left over from half-hearted attempts at odor-busting seem to start the cycle over again. As for the Green Waste can, the dried mud never seems to go away and attracts flies and other winged insects. As much as we like to say we’re nature lovers, marauding rats and raccoons raiding the rubbish changes our viewpoint instantly. What we need is high pressure cleaning and this is where The TrashCanMan swoops in to degrease and deodorize our waste receptacles.

Darby Faulkner got the idea when he was visiting Ireland and upon further investigation found that this is a profitable industry in the UK, Canada and Australia. You may have seen his distinctive truck around town where he services residential and commercial accounts as well as shops and restaurants, like Two GuysPizza, Ding Dr. surfboard repair and ReFinds Consignment Shop.  

He’s been surfing the San Clemente Pier since he was eight-years-old and now lives here with his wife, Jackie and two sons. So, what’s the secret of his success?

“It’s simple,” Faulkner says, “See a need, fill a need. This is a service that everyone needs and once you hear about my company you never look at your trash can the same way again. We are setting a new standard of cleanliness in San Clemente and my goal is to have a TrashCanMan truck behind every trash truck. Our city is a special place with special standards of pride and this is my full-time job along with Jackie who runs the administrative side of the business. I’m also a professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter and coach at Fight Strong MMA where, not surprisingly, I take care of their trashcans.

I offer weekly, monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly service the day of, or morning after, your regular trash pick-up. It’s something that everyone needs and I’ve never had anyone tell me they didn’t need my services. Also, I have one-time clients and my services can be given as a gift, especially for the handicapped or senior citizens. I have a special service where I will return the cans back to their side yard for them.

My yellow truck is self-contained and quiet as the can is sanitized inside, removing mold, dust build-up and debris. The environmentally friendly cleaning solution I use is an eco-friendly, hospital-grade antibacterial germicide and meets EPA, Cal-OSHA and Waste Management and Water Authority guidelines.”

Trash cans are a breeding ground for disease-causing bacteria and once the bacteria is killed then the smelly odors disappear. It is a simple affordable service offering people-friendly solutions, and Darby wants to provide you with the safest trash cans possible. He pays special attention to the underlip of the lid as this often harbors black widow spiders and when he’s finished he affixes a “Sanitized” sticker stating the day of service.

Service days include Saturdays, rain or shine and you don’t have to commit to having all of your cans done. They are fully insured, give you a reminder the day before and feel that no system is safer for your family once you’ve had the bins cleaned by The TrashCanMan’s system. It’s a dirty, rotten job, but someone’s got to do it - preferably Darby Faulkner in his Mean Green Cleaning Machine. Now you just have to ask yourself, what’s growing in your trash can?  

Contact www.thetrashcanman.com or (949)444-4426.