December 3, 2010
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…holiday cheer #5…
’tis the season for christmas decorating–especially around my folks’ and ninja’s places. between mom’s biltmore-esque use of a tree in (almost) every room and ninja’s landing beacon, it’s safe to say that christmas is Serious Business around those parts. as i was putting the 18th strand of lights on ninja’s tree today (and no. by no means is that an exaggeration. or anywhere close to the last string that will adorn the eight foot arbor) i started to wonder if there were any places that accept old christmas lights as donations. when i got a chance, i skipped on over to the internet to test rule 34.
sure enough! within moments, i’d found myself back at a favorite hub, earth911.com. if you’re not familiar with this site, you should take a quick second to check it out. it’s super easy to search pretty much anything you can think of to recycle, and you can filter those into categories including mail-in programs and curbside pick-up. so simple!
anyway, there are four major acceptors in the us. here’s one that seems promising for sure: christmas light source. yes, they’re purveyors of christmas lights–but this is a good thing. a mailed-in light donation will get your 10% an order of new led lights from them. they send the lights to recycling centers that break down the bulbs, strip down the wires for copper, and shred the plastic. in return, they receive money for the donation–which they turn into books (from usborne books, who matches every donation by 50%) that go to toys for tots.
these aren’t the droids you’re looking for
i saw that other places–local places for us–like sears and home depot also run deals where you can bring in old incandescent lights for credit towards new led ones, but the deadlines on these were all back in november. well, there’s always next year!
when you get out that box of lights and find a knot of unwound, incapable, and ancient bulbs, don’t get frustrated! send them away for a better reincarnation as educational fun for the youth of america. it’s a triple gift! you save money; the proceeds from the recycled lights go to charity; the earth is happier in the long run!
