Swap incandescents for LEDs at Christmas light trade-in
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Home Depot sold 40,000 miles of Christmas light strings last year. That’s enough to circle the globe one and a half times, according to a company spokeswoman.
While most of those light strings were outfitted with incandescent bulbs, the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer is encouraging customers to upgrade to more energy-efficient LED strings with its fourth annual Eco Options Christmas Light Trade-in, kicking off Thursday and running through Nov. 13 at all of Home Depot’s 1,961 U.S. retail locations.
LED holiday lights are up to 80% more efficient than incandescent holiday lights, according to Home Depot holiday decor merchant, Brad Whited. LED lights do, however, tend to cost significantly more than their incandescent counterparts. To help offset the price difference, Home Depot is offering $3 to $5 coupons to customers who trade in their old Christmas light strings (either working or non-working). Customers are limited to five trade-ins.
The old light strings are then recycled through the retailer, which has partnered with a zero-landfill processor that separates the strings into their component parts and recycles them as glass, HDPE plastic, copper and tin steel.
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-- Susan Carpenter