HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio — If you’ve got some old holiday lights, you don't have to throw them away, they could be helping the environment. 

What You Need To Know

  • Great Parks of Hamilton County teamed up with Cohen Recycling to recycle old Christmas lights 

  • Last year they collected six tons of lights and the recycle barrels are filling up this year

  • Lights can be dropped off at one of six parks in Hamilton County until Feb. 1

Mary Anneken has been digging through a giant barrel filled with broken Christmas lights because she says there’s something valuable inside that she can reuse to fix her parents' Christmas decorations. 

“If you just cut through these (Christmas lights) wires and strip off the rubber coating, it’ll expose the wire underneath and you can just twist those together to create a new connection,” said Anneken.

It turns out the fuse she’s trying to find in those lights is also made of a copper material that can be reused for more than home projects.  

That’s why Great Parks of Hamilton County put out Christmas light collection barrels throughout the county’s parks.

It’s part of Conservation and Parks Senior Parks Manager Adam McCosham’s job to make sure they’re emptied in a giant dumpster.

“That one simple act saved landfills from getting overfilled and save some of the big lands,” said McCosham. 

Cohen Recycling picks up the lights from the dumpster, and the parks department will get cash for them, McCosham said it's helping the environment too. 

“We take that money and we invest it back into our sustainability efforts such as recycling or even things like composting at our other facilities,” said McCosham.

Last year Great Parks received more than $3,000 for almost six tons of broken and unwanted Christmas lights. 

This year, those recycle barrels are already filling up. That's good news for Anneken, who is trying her own way to recycle Christmas lights. 

“I figure as long as the fuse is OK, why not try it," said Anneken. "Doing our part to save the environment."

The Christmas light recycle barrels will be out at six different parks, including The Ellenwood Nature Barn at Farbach-Werner Preserve, Glenwood Gardens Gatehouse, Miami Whitewater Forest visitor center, Sharon Centre at Sharon Woods, Winton Centre at Winton Woods and the Breezy Point Pavilion at Woodland Mound through Feb. 1.

For Columbus-area recyclers, bins are available at the Municipal Services Center, 3600 Tremont Road, in Upper Arlington for lights. The bins are located at the rear of the building near the food composting containers. 

In Cuyahoga County, lights can be recycled at light strings, power cords and power strips at 4750 East 131 Street in Garfield Heights. Goodwill locations also accept string lights. For a full list of what can be given to Goodwill, click here. 

Bins are available at the Municipal Services Center, 3600 Tremont Road, at the rear of the building, near the food composting containers. This environmentally friendly program offers residents an alternative to sending strands of holiday lights to the landfill. Lights only please, no bags or other material. 

You’ll be able to take your old Christmas lights to be recycled there from now until Feb. 1. 

Here's a list of Christmas light recycling locations in Hamilton County:

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