PEABODY — Residents Fritz Bonaventure and Michael Tango are finishing their first summer owning and operating Mr. Bintastic, a trash-bin cleaning company.
Originally from Malden, Bonaventure and Tango have known each other since seventh grade and they both moved to Peabody 14 years ago. Now 40 years old, their 23-year friendship recently birthed Mr. Bintastic during a family vacation in April 2023.
The two friends own the business with their wives.
“It’s a family business,” Bonaventure said. “Our kids go to Peabody schools. We’re Peabody residents. We wanted to do something that we know could help people all over.”
They are also members of the Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We want to be part of the community… We want to stick for Peabody. This is where we want to stay,” Tango said. “We want to help out the residents.”
Bonaventure said the idea was inspired by a similar business he saw in Texas while scrolling through social media late at night. He and Tango brainstormed the company and finally moved forward with it in June 2023.
To him, the name Mr. Bintastic allows for the company to grow.
“The idea was to grow this business — potentially franchise. So we wanted a name that wasn’t too local,” Bonaventure said. “We wanted something that can be anywhere.”
Tango added he and Bonaventure are fans of reggae music and drew inspiration for the name from Shaggy’s hit song “Boombastic.”
“We need a theme song. That’s what we need,” Tango said jokingly.
Although their work stated last summer, the Mr. Bintastic trailer, which is the key component of the operation, did not arrive until September of that year.
Since then, they have gathered clients as far south as Stoughton and as far north as southern New Hampshire, Tango said.
The Mr. Bintastic trailer holds approximately 600 gallons of water and cleans trash barrels with 4,000 psi of water at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, Bonaventure said.
“Garden hose is no match for Mr. Bintastic,” Bonaventure said.
Both Bonaventure and Tango said their favorite part about the company is hearing their customers’ reactions to seeing the before and after of their trash bins.
“Some of these barrels are disgusting — maggots, dead rats,” Bonaventure said.
“This is satisfying. It really is,” he added. “This isn’t just a business so we can just get rich. This is something so we can actually give back.”
Bonaventure said he hopes their business can expand so that towns and cities will recognize the sanitation benefits of having clean trash bins and dumpsters.
“I have a newfound level of respect for all sanitation workers,” he said. “I already respected those men and women that did this industry. But now that we’re directly in it and we’re getting sprayed with trash juice and things like that, I have a new level of respect for the workers.”
Tango advises anyone who has an idea to pursue it and challenge themselves.
“The idea is, hopefully, that we become our own bosses. We already did,” he said. “That’s the cool side of it is finding mistakes, working on it, and just, truly, chip away every single day at making your customers happy. That’s the most important thing.”
“A lot of it is trial and error,” Bonaventure added. “We’re figuring it out as we go, but at the end of day, like Mike said, we’re here to help.”
Bonaventure and Tango can be contacted through their website mrbintastic.com, on Instagram at mr.bintastic, or by calling them at 978-717-3366.
