Trash N Dash started with a simple problem—too much trash and nowhere to put it.

Living in a home with a basement suite rented out to two tenants, plus our own family, meant a constant overflow of garbage and recycling. Online shopping only added to the pile, and when the city switched to bi-weekly garbage and recycling pickup while introducing organic waste collection, things got even more challenging.

Almost every weekend, I found myself making an hour-long round trip to the landfill or recycling center—plus paying dump fees. Then I noticed something: my neighbours were doing the same thing. Many of them had suites or tenants, so they were also dealing with extra waste. After asking around, I realized that nearly half the homes on our cul-de-sac were in the same boat.

I decided to offer a simple solution: since I was already heading to the dump on Saturdays or Sundays, I let my neighbors know I could take their trash too. A couple of them took me up on the offer, giving me a few dollars to cover the fees. Then three neighbors joined, then five. Soon, word spread, and even someone from a nearby street—related to one of my neighbors—got in on it.

What started as a favor quickly turned into a service people genuinely needed. And that’s how Trash N Dash was born.