One man’s trash is another man’s treasure
Jacob Badeaux has a passion for what he does and is willing to get dirty doing it.
Born and raised in New Iberia, Badeaux grew up loving to work and challenge himself in whatever he did in life.
As a former oilfield worker for 12 years, Jacob said it was a constant up and down business for him.
“Getting laid off every couple of years,” Jacob said. “It was never steady.”
Badeaux was ready for something new, something all his own, and found it, though it may not be at the top of everyone’s dream job.
That change came in the form of work not many around him were interested in doing — trash can cleaning — Badeaux started Blast A Bin, a 100 percent eco-friendly residential and commercial bin/dumpster cleaning company.
“We’re a curbside service and we come in and disinfect, deodorize and sanitize bins at your house,” Bronwyn Badeaux, Jacob’s wife said. “We also disinfect, deodorize and sanitize business dumpsters which is really neat because no one in the state does this.”
Due to health concerns surrounding bacteria, Badeaux and Blast A BIn have been busy, and he wouldn’t have in any other way.
Blast A BIn is a quick process, taking less than five minutes to clean bins at a home, using 190 degree fresh, hot water and a 360-degree spinning head to ensure every nook & crevice is covered.
Arriving at a clients’ home in their custom Blast A Bin truck, Badeaux said he starts off by spraying the trash can with disinfectant, deodorizer and sanitizer inside and out.
“I wash the outside of the can first, and the dust and the grunge out the trash can,” Jacob said. “I grab it with my hopper, I put it in the back of my truck and drop it into my holding tank.”
And whatever is left over is kept in his hopper for delivery to a waste facility.
Jacob and Bronwyn, parents of four children, are used to having food and fun around them.
While they were having a pool party one day at their home, Bronwyn mentioned to her husband that he needed to get rid of the trash bins, as they were putting off a stench around in their backyard.
“The wife will always tell me, ‘You need to clean those trash cans with all of the flies and maggots and stuff like that,’” Jacob said. “I started cleaning them and every party after that I had to clean them because she wanted them clean.”
With the work he was doing, Jacob knew there had to be a solution to his cleaning.
“I said, ‘Man, there’s gotta be a better way than this,’” Jacob said, describing how he was constantly getting the water, germs and the flies from the bins on himself.
While cleaning his trash bin, the idea he came up with turned into what would be a new, full-time career.
“He starts Googling how to properly clean the trash cans and comes in contact with Canada’s (cleaning process), Bronwyn said. “Canada does their grass-cutting, their exterminating and their trash cans are cleaned once a month. That is a normal thing for them.”
Though it’s not a new idea, cleaning trash bins, it’s a fairly new industry and his love for his work is evident to Bronwyn. And his love for his customers is even stronger.
“He loves to talk to his clients more than he loves to clean his trash cans,” Bronwyn said. “He loves that personal interaction and that satisfaction from cleaning out trash.”
Badeaux services New Iberia, Loreauville, Lydia, Youngsville, St. Martinville, Broussard and Lafayette.
While cleaning trash cans may grunt work to an extent, more than anything, Jacob knows what the future of waste management holds.
“The main reason is that trash isn’t going anywhere,” Jacob said. “And the smells in the trash cans and the dumpsters aren’t going anywhere.”
Serving 30 to 40 clients daily, Jacob said his job isn’t hard work and he sees a future for himself at Blast A Bin for years to come.
“I see myself doing this for the rest of my life,” Jacob.
Jacob said his passion for his work comes from seeing his clients daily, and it’s what keeps him wanting to do more for the Teche Area.
“It feels good to be the only one around the area to do this,” Jacob said. “I can do residential and commercial.”
Badeaux said cleaning trash cans for a living is a big win for him — as he is committed to his passion but also helping out the environment at the same time.
“It means a lot, because as I did a lot of research, they have a lot of germs in those trash cans that can get you sick and a lot of people that have their cans and dump into the yard and can get into the storm drain and that’s where we get our drinking water,” Badeaux said. “And who wants to drink that?”
For more information of Blast A Bin, visit https://blastabin.com/ or call 352-1751.
Want to know more about Jacob’s story? Look out for it and more in tomorrow’s newsletter.