Greening the Holidays

Recycle Holiday Lights

When you have old, unwanted string lights, recycle them.

The Solid Waste District collects broken, burned-out, tangled strings of holiday lights year-round for recycling. Drop unwanted light strings, power cords, and power strips at 4750 East 131 Street in Garfield Heights. Hours are Monday-Friday from 8:30 AM-4:30 PM; closed on holidays.

No bags or boxes in the recycling bin, please. Place items loose in the marked lobby box and take all bags, boxes, and containers home with you. Sorry, we cannot accept pre-lit trees or garland. Lights must be removed from the item for proper recycling.

Lights that we collect are processed by a Cleveland company to benefit the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's Lights for Lions conservation program.

Seasonally, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and some city service departments collect lights from residents. Check with your community.

Other resources for recycling holiday lights:

• HolidayLEDS offers free a light recycling program. You can ship lights to the company for recycling from October 1 - February 28.
• Christmas Light Source accepts holiday lights all year round. Proceeds from this recycling program benefit the Marine Toys for Tots program.
• Retailers like Home Depot, Lowe's, and Walmart may collect lights for a few weeks during the winter holidays. Check with your local store.

Learn more about recycling holiday lights.

Recycle Christmas Trees

Each year, 10 million Christmas trees end up in the landfill. While your tree doesn't belong in the recycling bin with metal cans, mixed paper, and bottles, you can still recycle your tree.

Many communities offer programs to turn your tree into mulch or wood chips. Contact your city service department or waste hauler for more information.

If your city doesn't offer tree recycling:

• Your undecorated tree can be placed in your backyard as shelter or food for wildlife. As the tree naturally decomposes, it will provide habitat and add nutrients to the soil.
• If you have a private pond or lake on your property, undecorated trees can be submerged in the water to provide hiding spaces for fish and other animals. Learn more about using Christmas trees for wildlife habitat from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
• Donate your tree to a local farm or homestead for animal feed.
• Take it to a local compost or yard waste facility.
• Have it chipped for ground cover.

Learn more about how, when, and where to recycle Christmas trees. See our blog post on disposing of other holiday greenery.

Reuse or Recycle Holiday Cards

When the holidays are over, store greeting cards for next year. They can be used for gift tags, decorations, labels, and other holiday reuse projects.

If you choose not to reuse, include your plain holiday cards in your community's curbside recycling program. Do not include foil, ribbon, glitter, or photo cards with the mixed paper. Plain greeting cards can also be dropped off at a local mixed paper recycling bin.

Learn more about recycling paper and boxes or see our blog post about recycling holiday packaging.

Recycle Gift Wrap & Gift Boxes

Don't forget to have your recycling container or craft paper bag handy while everyone is opening gifts! 

Wrapping paper and boxes that are 100 percent paper can be recycled. Recycle the cards and wrappings with your regular curbside mixed paper collection or take it to a local mixed paper drop-off. Plain paper, butcher paper, corrugated cardboard, and gift bags without decorations can also be recycled.

If the wrapping paper has foil or is sparkly or shiny, it cannot be recycled. Place it in the trash, Also, do not include foil, plastic coating, ribbon, tinsel, bows, and glitter in recycling.

Learn more about recycling paper and boxes or see our blog post about recycling holiday packaging.

Re-Gift Unwanted Items

Donate unwanted clothes, toys, furniture, household goods, holiday decorations, and other unwanted items to local nonprofit organizations that reuse or resell items to support their work in the community. Find options for your usable goods using the dark blue ‘What Do I Do With?’ search engine at the top of every page of this website.

[video] Learn more about donating usable stuff.

BYOBags

During the nation's busiest shopping season, bring your own shopping bags. Paper, vinyl, and cloth are all good and can be folded easily into purses and pockets. Consolidate your purchases into one reusable bag rather than using or getting a new bag at each store on your shopping rounds.

Learn more about recycling plastic bags and ideas for reducing plastic waste. See details about Cuyahoga County's BYOBags initiative.

Recycle Cell Phones & Electronics

Getting a new cell phone this year? Each year, 130 million cell phones are thrown out -- about 65,000 tons!

Recycling phones prevents hazardous elements like mercury, cadmium, and lead from ending up in landfills. Drop off your old phone at any AT&T, Best Buy, Staples, Verizon, or other retail store that offers in-store recycling services. 

Do you have other electronics? Best Buy and Staples stores accept most electronic devices in-store for free. Other retailers also offer electronics recycling programs throughout the year. 

Learn more about recycling cell phones, communications devices, and computers and electronics.

Don't Dump That Fryer Oil

Over two million folks across the country deep-fry their turkey every Thanksgiving. With three to five gallons of used oil on your hands, disposing of it isn't as easy as just putting it in the garbage.

If your turkey fryer still has oil from the last holiday meal, drain it and take it to the next household hazardous waste collection day in your community. Fryer oil is accepted from Cuyahoga County households.

Additionally, restaurants and bars might be willing to accept your fryer oil and add it to their regular fryer oil collection. Locally, fryer oil is converted to biodiesel by Full Circle Fuels in Oberlin, Ohio

Learn more about the proper disposal of fryer oil.

Recycle Rechargeable Batteries

Phones, laptops, tools, toys, and more run on batteries. But when tossed in the trash or recycling bin, these batteries can spark intense fires that are nearly impossible to stop. This harms the environment, people, and property.

Rechargeable batteries, including lithium, lithium-ion, nickel metal hydride, zinc air, and lead acid, should be taken to a special drop-off for recycling.  Find a list of drop-off locations, provided by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), by calling 1-800-8BATTERY or searching by zip code on their website.

Classified by the federal government as non-hazardous waste, single-use alkaline batteries can be placed in the trash. Alkaline batteries are composed primarily of common metals -- steel, zinc, and manganese -- and do not pose a health or environmental risk during normal use or disposal.

Learn more about the proper disposal of batteries.

Use Real Plates and Serveware

Party time! Get out the old china dishes.

Avoid using single-use items like paper plates, plastic utensils, plastic party cups, and foil pans -- none are recyclable.

If you are packaging leftovers, reuse plastic containers or glass jars instead of to-go items or alternatives.

Learn more about the types of plastic that can be recycled curbside.

Donate Food

Food and holiday celebrations go together like jingle and bells. Rather than throwing the excess food away, donate leftovers to a local food pantry or organization that feeds the needy. 

The Cleveland Foodbank accepts food products from all types of donors including caterers and commercial entities. See their guidelines for making a food and fund drives donation or a food industry donation to the Cleveland Foodbank.

Learn more about other options for donating food. See our blog post on reducing food waste at holiday dinner parties.