How can you dispose of decorations in an eco-friendly way once the holiday season is over? Here’s how to recycle your Christmas lights right every time.
Christmas lights make a beautiful addition to any indoor or outdoor space, but you probably won’t want them up all year. The good news is there are a variety of ways you can recycle Christmas lights once you’ve taken them down.
1. Store Your Christmas Lights Away for Next Year
Storing and reusing your decorations is the most cost-effective and practical way to recycle your Christmas lights. If you have the space, simply store your lights away in storage containers (or in their original packaging) somewhere around the house or in your garage. If taken care of, these lights can last many seasons.
2. Resell Them
Another excellent way to recycle Christmas lights is to resell them. If you don’t want to leave the comfort of your home, sell your Christmas lights on Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, or Craigslist. You can have someone pick them up, or you can mail them out.
Believe it or not, there is a second-hand market for lights all year round. Whether for art projects, home lighting or a special occasion, you’ll likely find someone who wants your old lights.
3. Recycle Your Christmas Lights
We’d recommend this as a last-resort option. If your holiday lights no longer work, it’s certainly a good time to recycle them. However, it takes some due diligence.
Here are our three top tips:
- Start by calling your local waste service location to see if they accept and recycle Christmas lights — make sure to check if they’ll take LED lights if those are what you have. If they do, put them in the proper curbside recycling on recycling day.
- If your local government doesn’t recycle Christmas lights, don’t fear! Call a few hardware stores to see if they accept them. Big stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot often have recycling programs for holiday lights.
- If neither of those options works, you can send your lights to a mail-in recycling company like Christmas Light Source or Holiday LEDs.
As with almost all holiday decorations, Christmas lights can be reused and recycled. Sometimes all it takes is a little imagination and research. Keep these recycling options in mind once the holiday season is over, but be sure to enjoy the twinkle of the lights in the meantime!
Read more:
- Can You Recycle Wrapping Paper?
- How To Recycle Light Bulbs — And Why It’s Important
- Are Paper Towels Recyclable? What You Need To Know
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