How to Recycle Lights from your Ugly Christmas Sweater

Ever wonder how to recycle those lights on your Ugly Christmas sweater? I thought so. The good news is that once you remove the lights from the sweater, the recycling part is easy. The bad news is that depending on how the lights were attached in the first place, removing them might be tricky.  

Holiday lights are made from valuable materials such as copper, glass, and plastic, which can be separated and recycled. Unfortunately, there are still materials such as PVC, and loose bulbs will end up going to the landfill, but recycling is always a better option than throwing the lights in the trash.  And, you can recycle all your holiday lights, not just the ones that you are wearing with the same retail hack listed below.

Retail Hack:
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1. If you want to recycle your lights locally, contact your local town hall, recycling center, or a regional or state environmental regulatory agency. Earth911.com has an extensive recycling database and can help find local recycling centers. 
2. You can ship your lights to one of several organizations, including the following: HolidayLeds.Com,  Christmas Light Source, and The Led Warehouse.  Programs accept Christmas lights year-round. The Christmas Light Source takes the proceeds from selling the materials from the recycled lights and uses them to donate items to Toys for Tots Foundation.
3. Need new lights? Look for ones that are Energy Star certified LED. These lights use 75% less energy than conventional incandescents. They also last longer and aren’t as fragile as traditional lights.