Let there be Light this Holiday Season!
How you can be festive this Holiday Season without being an energy vampire
A large portion of the energy used during the holidays goes to power Christmas and other special holiday lights. This season, why not try eco-friendly alternatives that are still unique but save you money?
Alternatives
- LED lights
If you can’t go a Christmas without gazing at colorful, bright lights on the tree and outside the house, consider buying LED lights. LED lights consume less energy watts per string than regular lights. Admittedly more expensive to buy than regular lights, LEDs will save you money when it comes time to pay the electricity bill without sacrificing beauty.
- Solar-powered lights
Solar-powered lights work by collecting sunlight through a solar panel which powers the rechargeable battery that is included with every set of solar-powered lights. These lights are eco-friendly and, unlike regular lights, still work even if one bulb goes out.
- Laser Projectors
Although relatively new to the holiday light market, laser projectors are great alternatives to string lights. One laser projector can emit thousands of small bright lights onto your house or tree. You don’t have to worry about bulbs going out or tangled wires with a laser projection system.
- Candles
Before lights on a string came around, Christmas trees were decorated with candles. This can easily be recreated at home by using a couple of small candles. Look for candles made out of soy or beeswax as they last longer and burn cleaner.
Follow these simple steps to give your tree a touch of light: First, select a few sturdy branches on your tree. Pour some melted candle wax onto the end of the branch. Secure the candle onto the branch with the melted wax. Make sure the wax is completely dry and the candle is secure before letting it continue to burn.
- Popcorn
Nothing says old school Christmas like sitting around with your family, stringing popcorn. This is a great alternative to lights and any plastic ornaments in general. Reuse the string afterwards and feed the corn to birds.
Top Tips
- Safety
Whenever you are dealing with lights, always be careful to prevent electric shocks or fires. Do not place electrical wiring near water, and keep wires free from tangles and away from children and pets.
- Choose lights that are low voltage
Regular Christmas lights use around 100 watts of energy per string. Choose lights that use less than this. The Christmas Lighting Energy Calculator is a useful tool to calculate not just the energy consumption of your holiday lights, but also the estimated electricity costs.
- Turn on your lights for a couple hours a day
Instead of keeping your lights on for the whole day, turn on your lights at night for a couple hours until bedtime. Not only is turning your lights during the day a waste of energy and money, no one can fully enjoy lights under the sun.
- Turn off your lights when you aren’t at home
Other Considerations
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Sometimes less strings of lights used is better. For the Christmas tree, fill in the empty space with homemade ornaments and popcorn strings.
Reuse your holiday lights. Keep them in a storage box until the next holiday season.
If your Christmas lights no longer work, recycle them at your local recycling center or send them to a center that recycles lights at no cost.
- DIY ornaments from home
Make your own ornaments instead of shopping for plastic ones. Use items found around the house; something as simple as a small photo, to a piece of jewelry to even a small stuffed animal can work as an ornament. Try making ornaments that are unique and full of memories that you can reuse over the years.
Benefits…
- …to your wallet
Many Christmas light alternatives are easier on the wallet right away. However, for some alternatives like LED lights, you have to wait to enjoy the cost benefits until the electricity bill is received.
- …to the Earth
Eco-friendly lighting alternatives reduce energy consumption, which saves natural resources, such as coal. Greenhouse gas emissions are also decreased when less energy is used.
For more information
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree…
Eco-Friendly Lighting Overview
December 18th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
If you prefer to save money on lights and energy, I would recommend decorating just the outside of your house or just your tree. This will really cut down on your expenses. My family likes to put popcorn and tinsel on the tree and no lights. We only put a few on the big evergreen outside.
December 18th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
sometimes it is very hard to reuse your Christmas lights because they can easy get tangled and break while in storage. Unfortunately, we usually buy new ones every year.
December 18th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
the holiday lights are awesome but it’s important to remember to turn them off for sure! we use those multi plug strips and just shut the whole thing off with my button. besides a waste of energy this could be a huge fire hazard
December 18th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
the post important thing about lights is the concept of REDUCING and REUSING. i would really recommend that people should not just go out and buy a ton of lights over and over…. but carefully wrap them up and package them away every year! it’s very important to cut down on the virgin manufacturing of these materials!
December 18th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I have never thought of using laser projections before! That would be such an awesome idea! A raving Christmas party.
December 18th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Lights in any manner are not eco-friendly, especially the 5 billion little ones everyone hangs up. I would just buy carbon offsets and call it a day.
December 18th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
stringing popcorn was always my favorite part of the holidays only as a kid i never thought of it as being green.
December 18th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Great article. We love decorating our house! Now we’ll have a few extra tips. Thanks.
December 18th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
There is a new system of lights called OLEDs. I hear they are much better than LEDs, but they may not be out on the mass market yet.
December 18th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Good article, thanks.
December 18th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
I think that it’s impossible to go 100% green and lights are just not an easy thing to justify. Just use them sparingly.
December 18th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
I would love to just wrap my entire house in lights and christmas decorations. But, it’s just so not eco-friendly or worth the price!
December 21st, 2009 at 4:51 pm
is there an eco-friendly store that store specifically sustainable lights?
December 21st, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I would recommend checking that your lights were made in the US before you buy them. This will encourage purchases of nation made products and decrease importing from places like China. And this will decrease you’re ultimately holiday carbon footprint.
December 21st, 2009 at 4:53 pm
many people increase their carbon foot print and overall greenhouse gas emissions by 3X during the holiday season, so sad
December 21st, 2009 at 4:54 pm
There are more important things to worry about this holiday season. Like transportation and the effect of what kind of food you eat (ie. organic, local, etc).
December 21st, 2009 at 4:56 pm
I love LED lights. The colors seem brighter and deeper. There’s a house in my neighborhood that used all LED lights, and looks so gorgeous!
December 21st, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Obviously no lights is the best option, but if you can’t get through the season without them, these are some good options! Thanks for the great article as always.
December 21st, 2009 at 5:06 pm
good info
December 21st, 2009 at 5:07 pm
what is the average lifespan of a string of lights (of course when they’re not accidentally smashed)?!
December 23rd, 2009 at 6:48 pm
LED Christmas lights are a good way to get familiar with LEDs in general. Keep in mind there are many kinds of LED fixtures that will save a lot of electricity all year round in fixtures people use a lot more than holiday lights. LEDs use half as much electricity as compact fluroescents!