Don't Throw Away Old Christmas Lights — Here are Easy Ways to Recycle
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Once the holiday season is over, it's time to take down the Christmas tree and start putting away the holiday decorations — and the biggest tasks are storing the Christmas ornaments and packing your Christmas lights to prevent tangling. While organizing your Christmas decorations, you might be wondering whether it's time to downsize your collection. Do you really need 10 sets of Christmas lights? Before tossing them into the trash, consider learning how to recycle Christmas lights the proper way.
Most Christmas lights contain plastic, glass and copper. At a facility, recycled Christmas lights will be crushed up — making it possible for the individual materials to be reused. Keep in mind that there are valid environmental concerns to consider when it comes to disposing of Christmas lights. Beyond likely ending up in a landfill, throwing away light strings that contain Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs, or CFLs, can release mercury into the environment if the bulbs break.
How to Recycle Christmas Lights
Don't worry: it's surprisingly easy to ensure your old or broken bulbs end up in the right place. Whether you prefer to donate your lights locally or send them in the mail, we've rounded up the best ways to recycle holiday string lights this year.
Visit a hardware store
Retailers like The Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace Hardware and True Value will gladly accept your faulty Christmas lights. Consult with your local hardware store for specifics, including drop-off locations.
Try a participating grocery store
Bring your run-down or not-working lights to a MOM's location if you're in New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia or Washington, D.C. The store has recycling centers specifically for hard-to-recycle products like batteries, cork, Brita filters and old Christmas lights. Donations are brought to Capitol Asset Recycling, where they're "used to create roofing and construction materials, piping, car batteries, other electronics, lead wheel weights, flatware, jewelry and more."
Stop by a thrift store
Your local thrift store, including Goodwill, should accept your working Christmas lights. If you have an extra set or you're looking to upgrade, drop your unwanted lights in a donation bin or find a local store.
Contact your local recycling center
You're not the only one in the neighborhood taking down Christmas lights. Reach out to your local municipal waste service to see if it's accepting working or non-working Christmas lights. The recycling center set up a specific day to collect donations or direct you to another local organization.
Recycle by mail
There's a number of recycling centers and retailers that will accept your broken Christmas lights — in some cases, in exchange for a discount on your next purchase. Package up your old lights and take a trip to your local post office, FedEx or UPS store.
Schedule a pickup with Ridwell
When you sign up, Ridwell will visit your neighborhood every two weeks to pick up hard-to-recycle items, like batteries, prescription bottles and electronics. Just put your items in the provided bags and leave it by your front door. Find out if Ridwell is serving your area here.
How to Reuse Christmas Lights
If you prefer not to part with your Christmas lights, there are a ton of creative ways to repurpose them — and, yes we are talking about Christmas crafts. Whether your lights work well, partially or not at all, here are a few simple ways to turn your old Christmas lights into crafts:
If you have too many Christmas lights, turn one set into a lush garland by joining it with a faux foliage garland — it'll feel like entirely new decor.
Fill a mason jar, lantern or glass vase with a set of working string lights to add a subtle glow to your interior. Hint: this is a great solution if a few bulbs have burnt out.
Turn a set of vintage Christmas lights that no longer work into festive decor by upcycling the individual bulbs. Paint or cover the bulbs in glitter, then add them to a DIY wreath, place setting or wrapped present.
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