Where Can You Recycle Old Christmas Lights in New York State?

Have you already dealt with the frustration of your holiday Christmas light issues? Have you dug them out, attempted to plug them in, and then either an entire strand does not work or maybe one or two bulbs? What do you do? Do you pull out the light tester doohickey and go through it bulb by bulb?

You might try that for a few minutes, but then you figure that it is easier and will take less time to just purchase new lights, right? Well, maybe you come to this conclusion after you have fought with the lights for a little bit?

So what do you do with the actual strands of lights? Can you recycle them? Where?

There are a few places that will take the lights, but before you put them in the trash, you might want to take a few of the bulbs from the strand so you can use them as future replacement bulbs.

Where can you recycle them and do it without leaving your house?

You can mail them to a few different recyclers:

The above links are to places that will send your lights out to a recycler, which will break them down to their basic parts. When you send them to one of those places, you send just the strands of lights, nothing else, don't put them in bags or have anything else in the box, just the strands of lights. You can also send your lights to any of the above places any time of the year.

Where can you recycle them here in New York State?

Is there a place that you can walk into and just hand them those strands of lights that have frustrated you so much that you just can't stand the sight of them? Here are the places that I have contacted, and are waiting for a confirmation to see if they have a recycling program. Before you take your lights there, reach out to them, and see if they have a recycling program. While they have had recycling in the past, I am eagerly awaiting their response to see if they are doing it this year.

Home Depot
Lowe's
True Value Hardware

Also, call your local transfer station or recycling center.

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