Christmas light exchange

It's that time of year again, everyone. In a bid to keep electricity usage down over the holidays, the City of Red Deer and the Kerry Wood Nature Centre are running the annual Christmas light exchange.

For every two strings of old-fashioned incandescent Christmas lights you bring in, you can take home one box of energy-efficient LEDs for free. The old light strings are sent to a recycler who removes the copper wire. A great way to keep a useful item out of the landfill!

Anyone needing more new strings can find them at London Drugs, which supplies the lights for the exchange.

The old lights are already starting to pile up on our loading dock, so you may not want to wait too long to bring down your strings.

Along with the exchange, we currently have a 50/50 fundraising draw at the Nature Centre. The tickets are one for $2 or three for $5, and the draw date is December 6th, 2013. All proceeds from the 50/50 go to the Nature Centre and Fort Normandeau.

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Don't forget -- if you're coming down to exchange lights (or even if you aren't), this weekend we have our swap meet in conjunction with Kick it to the Curb. Bring down your unwanted but usable household items, and take home something that might be useful to you. The swap meet runs through to Sunday. No large items, please.

One last look at our light recycling bin

That's a lot of copper wire that won't be headed to the landfill, folks.

As of mid-day Saturday we gave out the last of our LED lights, so this year's Christmas light exchange is officially over. We started out with 804 light sets to exchange, and they went a lot faster than we were anticipating. Great job, Red Deer!

Thanks once again to the City of Red Deer for funding and supporting the exchange, and to London Drugs for their support.

We look forward to seeing your new energy-efficient Christmas decorations up!

Christmas Light Exchange Update

Our bin (nearly) runneth over. As of 11:30 there were only 51 sets of LED lights left for the annual light exchange. We started out with 804. Way to go, Red Deer!

There's still time to get those last few lights. Bring down two or more strands of incandescent lights and exchange them for one set of energy-efficient LEDs. And remember -- those lights you see in the bin are all headed for recycling. What a great way to keep valuable copper out of the landfill.

Christmas Light Exchange - Video Update

We know that you know how beneficial the Christmas Light Exchange is, in terms of power reduction and Greenhouse gas emissions. Here though, is a quick couple of minutes about the benefits of recycling the old strings you're bringing in to us.

Good job Red Deer.

Christmas light exchange update

Our recycle bin of old incandescent Christmas lights is getting pretty full, and that's fantastic to see.

There's still time to exchange your old lights for energy-efficient LED lights (one new strand for every two old strands per adult), but our supply is limited so don't wait too long!

Chrismas Light Exchange

Today marks the start of this year's Christmas light exchange, and we're already seeing big demand. Offered in partnership with the City of Red Deer Electric Light and Power Department and Environmental Initiatives Division, the exchange gives you the opportunity to recycle your old incandescent lights by trading them for more energy-efficient LEDs.

Bring your old lights to the Nature Centre, and for every two strings of old-style lights you'll receive a string of LED lights.

Our thanks to London Drugs, this year's light supplier.

For more information, call the Kerry Wood Nature Centre at 403-346-2010.