WastED - A Waste and Recycling Podcast by SWACO
WasteED is a waste and recycling education podcast from SWACO. Hosted monthly by Joe Lombardi and Hanna Greer-Brown, our guests offer insights into regional efforts helping to push sustainability forward as well as sharing their perspective on the next big GREEN thing for central Ohio. Between a few laughs plus genuine and substantive conversation, each episode features takeaways about proper disposal that will have listeners recycling right in no time. Find us on Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you listen!
WastED - A Waste and Recycling Podcast by SWACO
Two Local Partners Help Families and Our Landfill
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
The gift of giving doesn’t have to end when the holidays are over. What if your old sofa could be the reason a family sleeps better, studies at a real table, and finally feels at home? We sit down with Brody Olson of Two Men And A Junk Truck and Phil Washburn of the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio to share how a simple reroute—from landfill to living room—creates outsized impact across Central Ohio, including helping you sustainably clean up from the holidays.
Joe and Hanna walk us through the origin of their partnership, why speed matters, and how donations move from a pickup truck to a family’s home in a matter of days. Phil explains the referral network that identifies households leaving homelessness, domestic violence, or disaster, and why the most requested items are the most basic: sofas, beds, and dressers.
Brody opens the hood on junk hauling, the kinds of usable items they see every day, and the moment he realized mattresses—when clean and safe—can be accepted and immediately put to use. How about this for a staggering number - nearly 3,000 tons of furniture going to families in need while keeping all those items out of the landfill!
This great conversation also gets practical. If cardboard is piling up, try renting heavy-duty boxes, saving your best ones for the next move, or circulating them through neighborhood groups. Plus, we highlight community access points: affordable thrift stores, neighborhood food pantries and upcoming events that make responsible drop-offs easy. Mark your calendar for Furniture Bank Day on April 25, 2026, and keep an eye out for Earth Day and World Cleanup Day collection drives.
If you want less waste and more impact, this is your playbook! Subscribe, share this episode with a neighbor who’s decluttering, and leave a review telling us one item you’ll pass on to a new home this month.
New Season, Post-Holiday Confessions
SPEAKER_00Welcome to Waste Ed. A waste and recycling podcast by Swaco. Welcome to our 2026 season of Waste Ed. Gosh, I can't believe we're starting another year.
SPEAKER_02We made it a year and we're going to make it another year. And I'm feeling it in 2026 is going to be a good year.
SPEAKER_00We got to give ourselves a little pat on the back.
SPEAKER_02That's right. That's right. We will have a good time in 2026. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I agree. Okay. Well, Joe, let's get this episode started with a little confession.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00A little bird tells us that some homes in Central Ohio are still lit up like it's Christmas. Tell me, have you put all of your decorations away?
Meet Brody And Phil
SPEAKER_02Well, I can tell you there are some folks in my neighborhood that still have Christmas trees up in their house, but uh we have put ours away. I personally have not put anything away, but I did help pack uh stuff away, but my wife uh put it down very quickly. I'm sure she appreciated the help. It was quick. You know, we wanted to use the holidays and a new year as a springboard to our conversation today, Hannah. And our guests are Brody Olson from Two Men in a Junk Truck and Phil Washburn, CEO from the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio. Welcome. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having us. Thanks. It's good to be here. Well, guys, your holiday lights, uh decorations all gone in the attic, in the basement, all packed away. Correct. I mean, absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we got them down. You know, I always try to take advantage of that one nice day in January that always comes along. Yeah. And it's like, if I don't get the lights down now, they're gonna stay up till April. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, we had that one Saturday. Yeah, it was decent weather in the morning. Got up there, got the lights out, and uh yeah, got them cleaned up.
SPEAKER_02Brody, you got them all down.
SPEAKER_04Our inside decorations are all down and put away. I just unplugged the outside lights. It's still too cold for me. So they'll be up there till March. I'll make them down when the sun comes back.
SPEAKER_02So that's great. Um, you both have a really cool partnership with each other that's uh diverting items from our landfill and giving those items new life. We'll get to some of that uh throughout this podcast. But Brody, tell our listeners a little bit about your business.
How The Donation Partnership Began
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so uh we're actually sister companies with two men in a truck, the moving company. It should be pretty familiar to everybody. We've been in central Ohio for like 35 years or something like that. Um, and about four or five years ago, we started getting into junk removal when people were moving and downsizing. Oftentimes they have things that they want to get rid of or donate or purge. Um, and so that's kind of how we got into the the junk removal side of things. Um, so we do anything from a single fridge to an entire estate clean out. So uh you name it, we probably do it. So that's great.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh, I used to have a side gig uh with a buddy of mine. We DJ'd uh like we didn't do like big weddings, we do like bars and and parties like that. And our name was two guys in a mixer. So that we uh that was pretty clever.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, there's there's a lot of spin-offs in the names out there.
SPEAKER_02So we're no longer in business, so it's good.
SPEAKER_00That's funny. Well, Phil, Swaco and the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio have been partners for many years. Uh, I think you were recently uh recipient of a Swaco grant, and we teamed up recently for the annual Furniture Bank Day event. Tell us a little bit about that and your business.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so the Furniture Bank of Central Ohio exists to help alleviate furniture poverty. And we do that by taking the things that people have access, and and and instead of uh, you know, having it end up here in the landfill, we take it, we keep it in productive use, and we help families in our community who are going through some sort of life crisis. And so uh we've been doing that for close to 28 years here in Central Ohio. Um, 85,000 families have uh received our services during that time. And and it's all driven really by that, you know, all that extra furniture that ends up people not knowing what to do with. And uh, and it started with our our founder saying, Hey, I see all this furniture on the side of the road, and then I see these folks coming out of homelessness and and and they're sleeping on the floor still. And and and there's there's a problem here. So he just began picking it up, and you know, one thing led to another, and and we have the furniture bank of Central Ohio. And our furniture bank day that we've you know have done with Swaco is just one of our uh kind of an annual celebration where we just recognize that there are families still in our community who need furniture, and we want to get the word out um uh about how all of us can work together to uh to to accomplish that.
SPEAKER_02You know, we heard about your partnership through a story last year in a Columbus CEO magazine. And um, you know, tell us how that partnership came about.
Measuring Impact: Trucks, Tons, And Families
SPEAKER_04Yeah. So uh before I took over, uh, there was someone else in my position early in the concept of two men in a junk truck. Uh, and uh she connected with Adam over at Furniture Bank. And uh they had started a partnership for probably about six months or so. And uh, you know, whenever I hopped on board, there's a ton of things to do and remember, and I didn't even know it was a partnership. Uh, and Adam actually reached out to me a few months into the process and uh kind of explained, you know, their you know, what they do and uh how you know we could benefit families to you know donate furniture to. And uh I I wish I would have known, you know, a few months earlier, I would have jumped right on board. But uh as soon as I knew that, I knew that we wanted to help people in need and got reconnected. And ever since we've been donating stuff there for the last two years.
SPEAKER_01So it's great. Yeah, we're always looking for win-win partnerships. Yeah. And you know, uh for us, the name of the game always comes down to furniture. You know, we can't serve a family without furniture, and so we're always looking for new creative ways to get access to it. And you know, you see these junk haulers, you know, filled with you know, good usable furniture, right? Coming straight down here to the link.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_01I follow some in and yeah, right, you know, and so so we're like, hey, there's an opportunity here, right? And and so yeah, that we're excited to be able to, you know, close the loop on that. And it's a win for them, obviously. It saves them some money, yeah. And it's a win for the community because we're keeping it out of the landfill. And then of course it's a win for our families.
SPEAKER_02That's great. That's great. And and I think I read in that story in one year there were 340 semi-trailers of furniture that did not come to the landfill. Approximately how much furniture is that?
SPEAKER_04I mean, doing some quick math here, you can fit about 16,000 pounds of furniture on a semi-trailer roughly. Wow. Uh, you know, 2,000 pounds a ton. So that's what, eight tons of truck times 340 semi-loads? I mean, that's a lot. That's a lot. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, based on how good math. Yeah, and based on how we count it, it's yeah, we're we're looking at probably about 50 to 60,000 pieces of furniture. Wow.
Who The Furniture Bank Serves
SPEAKER_02Wow. And and Phil, a 95% of those items go to families in need. Can you talk a little bit about some of the families or some of the folks that you serve here in central Ohio?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So we work with a network of about 80 different agencies uh to identify families in need. And and the the only restriction that we put is that this family is going through some sort of life crisis and they lack access to affordable furniture. And so there's a lot of things that come to mind. Obviously, someone coming out of homelessness, that's a it's a big part of what we do. You know, they get um they go through the process, end up in the shelter, uh, finally get on a list, get an apartment, but there's no funding out there at the federal or state level to provide furniture. And so that's where we can step in. You know, so it they they they're coming out of homelessness, they've gone through this whole process and they're still sleeping on the floor. Yeah, you know, and so um, so that's a big part of it. But it's it's it's a lot of things. It's natural disasters. You know, when Latitude 525, uh, you know, the all of those families lost everything on Christmas Day, you know, as many of them got rehoused, we stepped in. Um it's uh families who are, you know, leaving domestic violence, you know, and and and if the one thing holding them back is just a home with with furniture, you know, we can step in as they get rehoused, you know, provide the furniture that they need so they can get a new start in life. And so very, you know, any number of stories. I could, you know, kind of go on for hours and hours, the types of stories, but it's really just, you know, folks in our community who are who are going through, you know, really the worst oftentimes moments of their lives, but they're having to navigate it without furniture.
SPEAKER_04One thing to add to that as well, I want to call out the the speed and the urgency. That's that's really what won me over. Uh, I took a tour in their facilities and uh, you know, they'll come and pick up our items on a day the very next day. It's you know on their floor and there's families coming in and they're claiming items, and then it's in their home the very next day after that. So uh just recognizing the fact that you guys are so fast and urgent with that, it I it goes a long way.
SPEAKER_00So Bertie, I know the day that we spoke by phone, just getting ready for the podcast, you mentioned there was a truckload leaving your location headed to the furniture bank that day. So um tell us a little bit about what some of the most common items are that you pick up and and send Phil's way.
What Gets Donated Most
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so we do a lot of household goods, uh dressers, nightstands, couches, small kitchen appliances, dishes, anything that someone needs inside of a residential home. Uh, but the number one thing that we get a lot of, and they're actually the only person in Central Ohio that takes them for donations, are mattresses, beds. Uh, and so many people, you know, maybe they get a bed that you know that doesn't suit them very well. They'd rather have something softer and it might be a firmer mattress, we'll come in and haul that away and they get buy a new mattress. And uh they're the only people here that here in Columbus that take mattresses. So great resource for that. Ton of mattresses go their way.
SPEAKER_00Phil, any guidance or anything that you give people who are interested in donating mattresses or probably a lot of concerns when you think about whether it's something you would want to redistribute to someone. So if I had a mattress that I wanted to donate, what what kind of things would I want to take into consideration?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, one of the things that we're gonna look at is uh excessive rip stains, tears, pet hair, things like that. Of course, we're also um gonna be very diligent about things like bed bugs, you know. And so um, you know, our drivers when we're coming out and and and and picking up a donation or when they're being dropped off, those are the things that we're looking at is is this something that we can feel comfortable giving back to a family? You know, we know, yeah, they may be sleeping on the floor. We still want to give them a quality product. So we don't really consider age as much as really the condition that the mattress is in. Oftentimes people will say, Oh, you wouldn't want that. And and I'd be you know kind of surprising to let them know, actually, that's still in pretty decent condition. And and a family that is has nothing is gonna appreciate it.
Mattress Donations: Standards And Safety
SPEAKER_02And that's a great segue because um Phil, what what kind of items do you or your clients need or want the most? And um and what cannot be repurposed?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so you know, as kind of Brody talked about, it's really anything related to the home. So we will take it's not just furniture, it's it's the um the linens, you know, the sheets and the blankets and it's uh, you know, um dishes, pots, pans, cooking utensils, all of that is absolutely necessary. But the things that are most requested um and that we always struggle to make sure we have in stock are sofas, beds, and dressers. You know, those are the three things that every family really needs and are the most requested items. And oftentimes those are the items that for various reasons um are are are are some of the least donated. And so, you know, those are the things that when you're thinking about it, we you know, always be thinking about hey, if this is in a decent enough kit condition, can I can I give it to the furniture bank, make sure we keep it in productive use versus um you know having it end up, you know, in the landfill.
SPEAKER_02That's great. And you you also have thrift stores, um, I guess that's what I'll call them. Yeah. Um uh another great way to reuse and repurpose um where 100% of the profits help those families. Is that correct?
Most Needed Items And Thrift Stores
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So we take uh we take excess furniture that is uh maybe um not the right size for our families, and um and and we're able to accept that donation, sell it back to the community, and 100% of it of course helps to offset our cost of making sure that families have the furniture they need. And it's a it's an affordable outlet because there's a lot of families in our community, they don't need the furniture bank, but they still need access to affordable furniture. And that's where those thrift stores come into play is it it, you know, if you need a$200 couch, um, you can come and get that and and and and it still has some life left in it, it can really help that family out, you know, and and maybe saving some money for for for a few other things in there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I know I visited the thrift store on Morris Road about a year or so ago, and I was first of all amazed at the quality of items that you had there and the amount of people and just sitting back watching families with smiles on their faces because they're able to get some. And that popcorn was so good that they had it. Got to come in for the popcorn. Popcorn was great at like 10 in the morning.
SPEAKER_00Oh gosh, I love a good bowl of popcorn. Yeah, 10 in the morning for breakfast. Yeah, well, what a great way to keep items out of the landfill. Um, you know, here at Swaco, we own the Franklin County Sanitary Landfill and we really monitor what's being thrown away by central Ohioans, and we see a lot of cardboard come our way. And uh that just really kind of breaks our heart because cardboard is easy to recycle here in Central Ohio. And Bertie, I know your company sells cardboard boxes when people are moving, but you recently shared with me some uh tips and ideas that you have that you pass along to your customers about ways to keep cardboard out of the landfill and even reuse it or keep it on hand for future things. So share a little bit of those tips with our listeners, please.
Cardboard Reuse And Box Rentals
SPEAKER_04Yeah, for sure. So uh not all sizes of our boxes can you rent, but we do have certain boxes that we do rent to clients for the day of your move uh for obviously a little bit of a more affordable cost. Uh they're like a triple corrugated box, so they they hold they're very durable. Um, so looking into options like that to you know, getting more uses out of boxes, maybe renting boxes from somewhere. Um, but on the moving side, the average person moves uh around seven times in their lifetime. Uh why throw away your boxes when you know you're gonna need them maybe a few years down the road. Uh, you know, I my my crawl space has a stack of boxes from the last time that I moved that I know I will need again at some point in the future. I don't want to go spend money on more boxes or throw these away. Um, but you know, sometimes people want to declutter and create some space. Um, and if that's the case, hop on some, you know, neighborhood Facebook pages next door. There are always people who are moving. That's a great idea. Always people who are asking for free boxes.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, well, and and you know, we're empty nesters, and I'm trying to convince my wife we need to move like to something small, but I'll start collecting my boxes for you, Joe. It's not working. We'll we'll be there for a while.
SPEAKER_00So it's so neat. I never really thought about renting boxes before. Of course, I'm thinking about like sourcing them from my neighbors and using the Facebook groups, but yeah, that's cool to know that there's a company out there that you can rent boxes from. Um, are there any other tips either one of you would share when it comes to recycling or repurposing items?
Extra Tips: Food Pantries And Furniture Flipping
SPEAKER_04Whether that's something about cardboard or couches or one thing that I wanted to add, our neighborhood actually has one of these, and uh you see more and more pop up here. Uh, but there are so many like local neighborhood food pantries, like just a random wooden pantry box in a parking lot or a neighborhood or something like that. And when we come in and do full clean out, sometimes uh we're going through the kitchen areas and there's dried goods that we're looking at expiration dates, and we're a little hesitant to donate food for sure. But uh, if you're ever looking to declutter in the springtime and you're looking at your pantry, you know, I I think that those paint uh those neighborhood pantries are a great option. Uh a couple other things here, too. Uh, we actually have someone that works for us who uh made a hobby of it to to repair and refinish furniture and try to resell furniture. So it's a great hobby to get into. There's a market for it for sure, or even maybe taking something that might not be donatable and and you know, resurfacing it and then maybe giving it to the furniture bank, I think could be a fun, you know, little thing to do.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, I was definitely gonna say suggest that you know we're really seeing an uptick in that kind of what we call furniture flipping. And it's you know, people taking stuff that you know is outdated and and it's got scratches on it, and and uh and yet with a little bit of creativity, and there's just some great examples online, and you you don't have to really be all that good at it. You can you know see what people are doing, get the get the ideas. And uh, we've seen some really amazing stuff that you know I saw the piece before it, and I'm like, hmm, not sure that's in uh very good condition. And then, you know, to see what people can do with it afterwards with just a little creativity, and again, it's it's it's helping to keep it in productive use a little bit longer.
SPEAKER_02That's great. And you know, in more ways to increase the diversion rate, Brody. Uh, your company is planning another donation drive this year to collect items so that they can be disposed of properly. Can you briefly tell us a little bit about that?
Community Drives: Earth Day And Cleanup Day
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so there's two pretty big days throughout the year. You've got Earth Day in April, and then you've got World Cleanup Day in September. Uh this past September we we hosted a donation drop-off event uh for World Cleanup Day, uh, where we took on household you know goods, uh mattresses, couches, the things we discussed a little bit ago, uh, but also electronics and TVs and things of that nature. And we even footed the recycling bill and took care of that for the for the residents. Um, I mean, we we aired uh an interview on the news one night, and the very next day was our event, and I was concerned not too many people would show up. Uh, and I was so busy for four hours straight. There was a constant line of cars coming to drop stuff off. Some things that I maybe I shouldn't have accepted. Next year I'll I'll you know tread a little bit lighter. But uh coming up here in April um uh for Earth Day, uh, we're wanting to host another one of those events. So stay tuned for that and keep a lookout on the social media.
SPEAKER_00So we'll do. Yeah. So what about furniture bank day? I think that typically happens in the spring. Are you guys gearing up for that again this year?
Furniture Bank Day Details And Invite
SPEAKER_01We are. We have it set for April 25th of 2026, and so we're very excited to have another Furniture Bank Day, uh, hosting it again up at our Morris Road location, 2165 Morris Road. And it's just a great day. Uh, we always run uh special sales, we have face painting and and crafts for the kids. Uh obviously, we'll have the uh the popcorn maker going. Last year we did hot dogs and grilled out. It was a wonderful day. And and uh it's just a again, it's a way to get the community together, raise awareness about the uh the the need in the community and the outlet that we uh provide to everybody in the community to keep those those things out of the landfill. So we encourage everybody to come out. It's uh during our regular business hours on April 25th and and celebrate Furniture Bank Day with us.
SPEAKER_02Guys, uh keep doing what you're doing. Uh it's it's great because you're not only helping our mission by re you know, not putting stuff in our landfill, but more importantly, you're helping the families here in Central Ohio to get a new start and and be able to feel like they're they're doing okay, right? And so uh keep doing what you're doing. Whatever that is, whatever that partnership is, keep doing what you're doing. And to our listeners, if like us, you're still cleaning up from the holidays and want to start a new year in a more sustainable way, head over to swaco.org for information on places to recycle or donate items you no longer want or need.
SPEAKER_00We also want to hear from you. If you have ideas for future podcasts, Episodes connect with us on any of our social channels, or you can always drop us an email. Until the next time, this is Waste Ed, a waste and recycling podcast by Swaco.
Closing Thanks And Listener CTA
SPEAKER_02Phil and Brody, thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you.