The Secret Lives of Hoarders_ True Stories of Tackling Extreme Clutter - Matt Paxton [61]
I’ve learned that for hoarders, every cleanup is a grieving process. We are asking them to say good-bye to items that are heavy with memories—some wonderful, some painful. But all are important and deserve respect. A hoarder finds safety in the hoard, in the stacks and piles, and he or she will grieve over the loss of those items when they are gone. The week after the house cleaning is usually the worst. Instead of being happy and enjoying the new space, hoarders go through a difficult process. They miss their possessions, which were their closest friends for years.
WHERE HOARDER STUFF GOES
A hoarder’s things may look like trash to someone helping with a cleanup, but the hoarder usually has plans for those items. During a cleanup, the crew’s job is to implement those plans. That may mean making phone calls to find donation sites, talking to auction houses about selling items, or listing things on eBay. Disposing of a hoarder’s things can take as much time as the cleanup itself.
During the course of our cleanups we regularly have to handle anything from dead animals to diapers filled with human waste, junk cars to old containers of pesticides, insulin needles to bloodstained clothing. None of this can be simply bagged and tossed at the dump, as it requires special handling. Not only is it the law, but a lot of this stuff is toxic and can cause serious injury if it’s not disposed of correctly. And that’s to say nothing of live animals, pests, and vermin, which also require special attention.
▶ Dumping
The Environmental Protection Agency’s website lists hazardous waste that must be disposed of by approved methods and facilities. (See the resources section at the back of this book for contact information.) During a cleanup, it is best to put suspected toxic items to the side, make a list, and then contact the EPA or other agency to determine how best to handle each type of material.
For example, used needles have to be taken to a medical waste facility, where they are incinerated. A biohazard like human feces must go there too, as does anything with blood on it. As human waste sits, it develops deadly microbes, bacteria, and viruses. Flies spread those around, so a house where human waste is only in one room may still have e-coli present in other parts of the house. The hoarder may have been living in the house for years, but that doesn’t make it safe. Chemicals, paints, paint thinners, and batteries also require special handling. A local dump should either have special days for hazardous waste drop-off or know of a nearby site that takes it.
With any of these materials, cleanup crews should be fully protected by masks, Tyvek suits, and heavy gloves. The fumes alone can sometimes be deadly or can burn human skin. Wearing protective gear may feel awkward when the hoarder is walking around the house in normal clothes, but nobody knows what hidden ailments the hoarder has developed. And it’s impossible to predict someone’s reaction to a chemical—one person might be fine, another might have a life-threatening reaction. It’s not worth the risk.
Dead pets must be either cremated by a certified facility or buried (some localities no longer allow burials so check local regulations). Dead pests, like mice, must be handled by pest control experts, who know how to protect against the diseases their bodies and feces carry. Mice and rats can eat all kinds of toxins and survive to litter those chemicals around the house in their waste, which makes them extra dangerous. A rule of thumb that we use is that for every live mouse seen in the house, there are ten more in the walls.
Old cars can be dangerous because of the oils, antifreeze, and gasoline that might still be inside. The safest disposal