Non-Profit Community Organizations Benefit From Clean Green Hauling & Removal Efforts

By Jill Nagy

Keith Lamphere, owner of Clean Green Hauling and Removal, LLC, is a junk collector with a mission: to see that the junk he collects gets put to good use.

As he explained, he “make[s] people happy by taking the stuff” (for a fee). Then, he donates it to non-profit community organizations. Some of it, like furniture, kitchenware, and housewares may be used to help formerly homeless clients set up their first household. Other organizations sell the items and use the money for programs like summer lunches for children. Some organizations are happy to receive items even if they are not perfect “ but it’s gotta be clean.”  “Everybody takes different things,” he observes.

Back in 2021, Lamphere and his wife were looking for a way to give back to the community, he recalled. That impulse gave birth to the idea of his current company.

The company uses two box trucks to pick up unwanted items and keep them clean and dry. He also has trailers and a flat bed truck. Back at the company’s headquarters in Ballston Spa, the items are stored in two storage containers. When the containers are full, it is time to make donations.

Lamphere speculates that his policy of donating the junk he collects makes his company more attractive to some people. Others “just want it gone” and appreciate that he is “providing a quality service.”

As a coincidence, Clean Green Hauling and Removal has become an outlet for pianos. “Nobody wants pianos,” he notes. They take up space and many people prefer the convenience and sound of an electronic keyboard. The life cycle of a piano, he said, is about 20 years; after that, it cannot hold a tune.

Lamphere has two full-time and four part-time employees and he said that he hopes to add more in late May or early June. “We get pretty busy come summer, and it is already beginning,” he said. New employees do donation runs right away, usually within a week of starting work. 

The company collects from an area from Lake George to Delmar and will go further if the job is large enough.

Prior to getting into the junk business, Lamphere was director of operations for Hill & Marks, a paper company with 88 employees. He was, he recalled, responsible for managing people and process.

You can reach the company online at CleanGreenremoval.com.