Annual Recycle Holiday Lights Drive continues to grow

It’s that time of year, Christmas lights are starting to go up.

If you find that you have some unwanted or extra lights and want get rid of them, there is a drive to donate to!

The annual Recycle Holiday Lights Drive is in full swing, it was all started by a local elementary school.

What started as a simple idea six years ago has turned into one of the largest community recycling drives in the area.

The Recycle Holiday Lights Drive is now in its sixth year.

It’s an annual event hosted by Eastridge Elementary School, it helps locals get rid of unwanted lights and extension cords.

“In the last five years we have recycled 36,000 pounds of lights that have helped support our parent teacher organization and the Lincoln firefighters’ Operation Warm,” said Traci Boothe, Eastridge Elementary School Principal.

The drive donates 10 percent of the funds raised to the Lincoln firefighters Operation Warm, a continued effort to help provide coats for kids in need.

Event organizers are making it easy to donate, there are over 50 drop off locations throughout the city, including at every fire station, Super Saver and Russ’ Market.

“They bring those lights to the school, we have a very large collection container provided by Scrap Central and then those lights then go to Omaha. Scrap Central is our recycling partner, and they pay us 30 cents per pound for lights that are recycled,” said Angie Alesio, Chair of the Recycling Drive.

So far, 36,000 of lights have been saved from being dumped into local landfills.

Scrap Central accepts all kinds of lights, broken or still working, and even extension cords.

The yearly event continues to grow in popularity.

“It has increased annually and we’ve raised $20,500 with our partner scrap central through these efforts,” said Alesio.

The donation bins are located outside main entrances of drop off locations.

There are some at Eastridge Elementary too; all the bins are wrapped in holiday paper making them easy to find.

“At the end of the year, Scrap Central matches the PTO’s donation to Operation Warm,” said Alesio.

The drive will continue through January 15th.

Event organizers say they hope to continue the event for years to come.

Full list of drop off locations:

Campell’s Nurseries & Garden Centers – 2342 S 40th Street / 5626 Pine Lake Road

Charter Title & Escrow Services – 6333 Apples Way Ste 115

Community Crops – 1301 S 11th Street

Cosmic Eye Brewing – 6800 P Street #300

Earl May – 48th & Hwy 2 / 70th & O street

Eastridge Elementary School – 6245 L Street

Famers Cooperative

Firth Tire Store – 204 3rd Street Firth, NE 68358

Seward Station – 412 Seward, NE 68434

Beatrice C-Store – 1615 N 6th St Beatrice, NE 68310

Land Escapes – 1712 North 48th Street

Leon’s Gourmet Grocer – 2200 Winthrop Road

All Lincoln Fire & Rescue Fire Stations

Lincoln Landscaping Company – 10612 Saltillo Road 

Lincoln Yoga Center – 2127 Winthrop Road

On The Go Convenience Store – 5240 S. 48th Street

All Russ’s Market locations

Schaefer’s – 4700 R Street

Sid Dillion Buick Hyundai – 2627 Kendra Lane

All Super Saver locations

The Law Offices of Bromm, Lindahl, Freeman-Caddy & Lausterer – 551 North Linden Wahoo, NE

Whole Foods – 6055 O street