Jay Cruickshank considers himself the “doctor of junk.” He writes a “prescription” for the mildewed couches, piles of compost and rusted bicycles that accumulate in people’s garages, then climbs in his dump truck and carts them away.
Cruickshank manages Junk MD, a local start-up business with one dump truck and a mission to haul anything “junk” in a professional, customer-oriented manner. The business is nearing its first year of service and runs out of an office on Herschel Avenue.
In the world of discarded stuff, each day offers a new surprise. Cruickshank has carted away a 14-foot sailboat, 15 barrels of compost and 25-year-old German antiques. Some items are in decent condition, like discarded desks and barstools or bicycles that need air in the tires.
“There’s always a lot of stuff that people pile up in their garages and they’re fed up with, and they’ve decided they don’t want to use it,” Cruickshank said.
The tail end of the operation ” the 1,400-acre Miramar Landfill ” is also an ever-changing sight that Cruickshank wouldn’t encourage anyone to seek out. Trash flies through the air as dump trucks zoom around discarded waste, and tractors push the mounds of ” “whatever you can name, you can see it out there,” Cruickshank said.
“It has a smell and it’s dusty and it’s dirty and the ground is squishy and wet sometimes,” he added.
It’s not all trash, however, and Junk MD knows that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. Items that are in good condition are donated to Goodwill or Children’s Hospital; books are sent to a nonprofit in Tijuana. One of Cruickshank’s friends has even spawned his own business by selling discarded items at a swap meet.
Cruickshank also isn’t eager to fill up the landfill. Junk MD tries to recycle as much as possible, from compost, dirt and concrete to old washing machines. Cruickshank had hoped to salvage the sailboat to transform it into the business’s first junk boat, but it was too damaged. While donating and recycling is integral to the business, Junk MD could always do more when it comes to the environment, owner Rob Wells said.
“It’s a very important aspect [of the business], but in the day-to-day it’s more difficult as it is in everyone’s life,” Wells said. “Everyone talks about it and wants to do it and we’re guilty of it. We can always do more.”
While Cruickshank aims to be professional in his service, there’s also plenty of creativity in the junk field. An art show is in the works as Cruickshank sets aside a desk here and a saw blade there for an artist friend to work with. The manager envisions eventually auctioning off the art pieces and donating the proceeds to charity.
Cruickshank also hopes to have some fun with the business. He plans to convert his dump truck to run on biodiesel fuel and then drive coast-to-coast on a three-month expedition across the United States to document what Americans throw away. Along the way, he will educate people on the importance of recycling and about their local landfills. Daily blogs about people’s trash in other cities will also be posted on the Junk MD Web site.
“With this day and age, people just want everything done right now,” Cruickshank said. “They want us to come and pick it up to get it out of their hair because they don’t want to take the time to sell it or whatever.”
Junk MD sprang out of Wells’ childhood love of dump trucks and his need for an outlet from the rest of his business pursuits. He runs Sixteenfifty Advertising on Herschel Avenue, and has been part of some entrepreneurial start-up since he left high school. He began his career with a landscaping business, snowboard shop and beer company, all of which crashed, followed by successful ventures like the Jones Soda Co.
Junk MD plans to expand to three or five dump trucks in the next ten years.
“[Business is] cranking along,” Wells said. “We’re not losing money. No one’s retiring, but we feel that there is more junk out there for us to collect.”
Junk MD is based at 7734 Herschel Ave., Suite One. For more information, call (800) JUNK-MDS, (858) 864-7763 or visit www.junkmd.com.