RANCHO BERNARDO -- When Ian Rebello and David Rodgers lost their jobs last summer, they couldn't find anyone to hire them.

So they hired themselves.

The friends, who have known each other since high school, raised about $30,000 by tapping their credit cards and borrowing from friends and family to start their own business, a junk removal service called Green Junk Machine.

The Rancho Bernardo-based company markets to real estate agents and property managers who want clean premises, as well as residents who just want to de-clutter.

A lot of hard work and commitment went into their venture.

"We did everything and anything to do it. We went to everybody we knew, we maxed out personal credit cards," Rebello said. "We figured it was now or never."

Rebello and Rodgers added their own twist to stand out from competition: spiffy uniforms and a smartly designed truck to give an upscale look to an industry with a scruffy image.

Besides its founders, the company today has two full-time employees and two part-time employees, along with two trucks for customer service. It can be reached at 888-722-5865 or www.greenjunkmachine.com.

Their formula is part basic business etiquette and part environmental appeal.

"They give us a call, and we send a friendly uniformed crew to the location. They remove all the junk and all the cleanup," Rebello said. "We provide the most efficient way to remove all the clutter."

Patrick Minton of San Diego was effusive in his praise for the company, which on Sunday decluttered a house in Point Loma he had sold. The house needed to be ready for the new owners.

"I have never been so impressed with any service," Minton said. "They were prompt, they were polite, they were well-groomed. Kudos, kudos, kudos. I can't say enough good things about them."

Minton said he was billed $199, and was so happy he threw in a $40 tip.

Green Junk Machine will take ordinary household junk, including old computers, monitors, faxes and other electronics.

"Anything with a power cord is 100 percent recyclable," Rebello said, including one haul of a truckload of treadmills.

In addition, the company removes wood, construction debris, garden refuse and furniture. The company does not take hazardous substances such as paint or toxic materials.

Jobs are billed by volume removed. The fee is set after an on-site inspection of the premises.

What happens after the junk is removed also sets the company apart, Rebello said. Anything recyclable is taken to the appropriate recycler or donated to charities, as opposed to winding up in a landfill. That's about 60 percent of the total.

The company is listed as a green recycler by I Love A Clean San Diego, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting litter and otherwise preserving the county's environment. Rebello said 1 percent of the company's gross revenue goes to I Love A Clean San Diego.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at 760-739-6641. Read his blogs at bizblogs.nctimes.com.