Created in 2004, How to Get Rid of Things has since grown into a comprehensive catalog of well-written, entertaining instructional articles. Jonathan Hatch launched the site during a course in web design at Bemidji State University in north central Minnesota, and maintained it single-handedly until 2006, when he began asking talented friends and colleagues to help him produce more articles on a wider array of topics.

Eric D. Ronning was the first writer to bring his talents–and his valuable knowledge of the natural world–to How to Get Rid of Things. He was closely followed by his then-girlfriend (now wife), Amber Luck Ronning, who got to know Jonathan during several graduate-level English courses and a lot of boozy weekend gatherings of literature nerds. Jonathan’s longtime friend Adam Bjerk and his wife Laura, also veterans of the BSU English department, wrote their first contributions to the site in 2008. The same year brought the addition of Nils Hoyum, a close friend of Eric’s since their freshman year in the biology department at Bemidji State. Next came Erin Eliason, yet another of BSU’s illustrious English majors. Finally, in 2010, Peder Hoyum (artist, farmer, cook, and Nils’s brother) completed our close-knit staff.

We now have a team of eight full- and part-time writers, with poet Sean Hill and author Will Weaver also making occasional contributions. Our writers are very thorough researchers, and while our articles are not intended as a substitute for expert advice, we always strive to provide reliable information from authoritative sources. All of our articles are professionally edited and undergo periodic revision to include new information or eliminate outdated recommendations. To ensure accuracy where it matters most, our medical articles are reviewed by Jonathan’s father, Dr. James Hatch, M.D., who has been a practicing physician for over 30 years and specializes in internal medicine and rheumatology.

We may be serious when it comes to the quality of our information, but we’re extremely good at finding the humor in life’s little problems, and all of the writing on How to Get Rid of Things is meant to entertain as well as educate.

Another distinctive feature of How to Get Rid of Things is our emphasis on natural and environmentally friendly solutions; every one of our articles includes a section devoted to alternative treatments. This focus has followed us into some of our other projects, along with our dedication to accuracy and our conversational writing style.

In 2019, under new ownership (still Minnesota-based), Get Rid of Things began a new era with a dual-focus:  Build on the trusted content that readers have grown to rely on, while expanding  information provided by Get Rid of Things and reflecting the latest in research and knowledge.  We look forward to the road ahead.

Get Rid of Things has been featured or mentioned by organizations such as Lifehacker, the USA Today Network, and Wikihow.