Nov 18 2009
Recycling partnership with Lights For Life benefits kids with cancer
Demonstrating that it is "the helpful place" for all seasons, Ace Hardware today announced that stores in Colorado will accept traditional, incandescent holiday lights for recycling between November 23, 2009 and February 15, 2010. Participating stores will also offer discounts on the purchase of new energy efficient LED light sets for consumers who bring in incandescent lights for recycling.
Local Ace Hardware stores are partnering with Lights For Life, a non-profit organization that recycles the used lights and sells the copper components to raise money for children with cancer. Last year, Lights For Life collected nearly three tons of lights.
"Each year, more than 200 million strings of incandescent lights are sold in the U.S., and most of them end up in the landfill," said Linda Worthington, chief financial officer at Lights For Life. "Collecting just a small percentage of these used light strands goes a long way toward helping families of children with cancer, and we're delighted to partner with Ace Hardware on this initiative."
Ace Hardware retailers anticipate that many consumers will make the switch to longer-lasting and energy efficient LED holiday lights this year. LED lights use just a fraction of the energy of incandescent lights, which means lower energy bills for homeowners through the holiday season. According to Consumer Reports, a typical homeowner spends approximately $11 in energy costs to burn 50 feet of traditional lights for 300 hours, while the same use of LED lights costs less than 15 cents.
LED lights are also more durable than incandescent lights, often lasting as much as ten times longer than traditional lights, and because LED lights burn cooler they are safer to use and reduce the risk of fire.
"This year, consumers will have more LED holiday lighting options than ever before, with LED icicle lights, lights that change color, multi-colored lights, and clear LED lights that look as natural as incandescent lights. As more people make the switch to LED lights, we wanted to provide an environmentally-friendly option for disposing of traditional light strands," said Bill Moore chairman of Rocky Mountain Ace Stores, a group of local Ace Hardware stores. "We already offer recycling for many household items, and strands of incandescent lights seemed like a logical addition. We hope we're saving our customers an additional errand during the hectic shopping season by offering a place to purchase and recycle lights."
The holiday light recycling program adds to the growing list recycling programs offered by area Ace Hardware stores. Colorado Ace Hardware stores also accept used compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), mercury-containing thermostats, used cell phones and rechargeable batteries for recycling.
Source: http://www.acehardware.com/home/index.jsp