{"id":4178,"date":"2026-07-25T09:40:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T09:40:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4178"},"modified":"2026-07-25T09:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T09:40:16","slug":"an-11-year-old-is-cleaning-his-neighbors-trash-cans-for-10-each-he-now-has-100k-followers-as-teens-face-the-worst-summer-job-market-since-1948","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4178","title":{"rendered":"An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors\u2019 trash cans for $10 each\u2014he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Once his school broke up for the summer break in May, Ashton Meyer began knocking on the doors of local residents of East Gwillimbury, Canada, to ask whether he could clear out their trash\u2014and documenting each knock on Instagram and TikTok.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more EU strikes Google with $1 billion fine in major crackdown on antitrust regulations even as Trump threatens retaliation<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMy name is Ashton, and I\u2019m doing a service to clean out all of your bins\u2014that includes your garbage, your green bin and your recycling,\u201d he says on camera, door after door.<\/p>\n

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Now, he has 40 clients; he\u2019s become a social media sensation, racking up more than 111,000 followers on Instagram in just two months; And as the leaves turn brown, he hopes to expand to leaf raking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be an entrepreneur who owns his own business,\u201d Meyer tells Fortune<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And he tells kids looking to copy him they need to lower their prices and get comfortable with rejection. After all, as you can see in his videos, Meyer gets turned down far more than he gets hired. But he hands over his number anyway, smiling: \u201cTake it, and if you need me you can call me,\u201d he tells one skeptical neighbor. \u201cI\u2019ll be here all summer.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Your Bin Cleaning (@yourbincleaning)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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It\u2019s a mindset he\u2019s happy to pass on to other kids chasing a summer income. \u201cThe first no is the hardest. Keep going,\u201d Meyer says. \u201cTry and find a need that no one is filling and see if you can do it. Ask your neighbors if they need any help\u2014maybe it\u2019s bin cleaning or weeding or watering their plants.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cOffer a good price when you are a kid because you are still learning,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

While teens can\u2019t land a babysitting job, this 11-year-old built a business\u2014with a little help from mom and dad<\/h2>\n

Like many kids, Meyer just wanted a bit of extra pocket money and was mulling over what he could do to earn it himself.<\/p>\n

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His dad came up with the idea of taking the neighbors\u2019 trash cans out on garbage day and cleaning them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut I had the idea of going door to door to see if he could drum up more business for cleaning garbage bins,\u201d Meyer says, while adding that his mom encouraged him to film it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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After all, his summer job options are limited\u2014and not just because of his young age.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thanks to persistent inflation, the soaring cost of living, and AI making employers cautious about hiring (and everyday people cautious of spending), entry-level part-time jobs like lifeguarding and retail assistants are disappearing. People can\u2019t even afford a babysitter right now. For teenagers, it\u2019s leaving them with the worst summer jobs market since 1948.<\/p>\n

Read more The Secret Service is investigating a member of JD Vance\u2019s detail over a suspected news leak<\/a><\/p>\n

But looking forward, whatever with the job market, Meyer plans to keep up his new side hustle\u2014even once school picks back up in September.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will definitely keep up washing bins as the weather allows,\u201d he says. \u201cMy plan is to work after school and Saturdays.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Once the weather cools, he plans to use the changing seasons to his advantage: \u201cI also want to do leaf raking and snowplowing during the colder months.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ashton Meyer\u2019s building a career he loves and inspiring future bin cleaners<\/h2>\n

If the babysitting jobs are gone by the time Meyer\u2019s old enough to want one, he probably won\u2019t be looking for it anyway. For now, at least, he\u2019s loving his new gig.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy everything about my job. Going door to door is fun because I get to meet new people,\u201d Meyer says. \u201cIt might be weird, but I actually enjoy cleaning the garbage bins. It\u2019s satisfying to see them totally clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, Meyer\u2019s made a grand total of $700 (about $500 USD) and counting. But Fortune<\/em> has spoken to plenty of successful business owners who started just as small and just as young. Take Chase Gallagher, he was 12 when he started mowing lawns in Chester County, Pa., for $35 a pop back in 2013. Over a decade later, his landscaping company employs 10 people and pulled in more than $1.5 million in revenue last year.<\/p>\n

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Plus, between his bin-cleaning business and the six-figure Instagram following, Meyer\u2019s already got what most side hustles take years to build: customers and an audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And he\u2019s even inspiring a new wave of bin cleaning entrepreneurs: \u201cI\u2019m mind blown, it\u2019s been so crazy, and I feel grateful,\u201d Meyer says of his newfound Instagram fame. \u201cWe have heard from people all around the world. Many parents have shown the video to their kids and it has inspired them to start businesses, which is so cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump has no remaining levers to pull as oil hovers near the $100 \u2018psychological\u2019 threshold<\/a><\/p>\n

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Ashton Meyer, 11, wanted more pocket money this summer\u2014so he started his own bin-cleaning business, and it’s already gone viral.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers"],"yoast_head":"\nAn 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors\u2019 trash cans for $10 each\u2014he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948 - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4178\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An 11-year-old is cleaning his neighbors\u2019 trash cans for $10 each\u2014he now has 100K followers as teens face the worst summer job market since 1948 - 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