Aaron Cohen

LED Christmas Lights Eco Friendly Alternative

Sunday Dec 10, 2006

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My wife is Catholic and I am Jewish, and so we typically have a Menorah burning as well as Christmas lights, and sometimes a tree.  It's a beautiful way for us to express our differences and our openness to celebrate each other's holidays, faiths, and traditions.  This post is about being eco-friendly, and has no judgment on the idea of putting up lights as a form of celebration and tradition.  I will first say, I love Christmas lights and always have.  My parents used to drive us around the neighborhoods so we, even as Jewish kids,could ooh and ahh at all the beautiful lights.  This post is totally at risk of calling me a scrooge, but hear me out.

I posted previously my wishlist to my mother to buy me something (if anything) that is eco-friendly.  But riding my bike around Portland, Oregon,  which is supposed to be a very green city, has me baffled.  The city has so much holiday spirit they must have forgotten that Christmas lights use a whole lot of energy up. Imagine how much energy our city -- if not the planet -- is using up from now until New Years.  Someone should do a study.  However, I simply cannot imagine how sad it would be if we were told we couldn't have Christmas lights anymore because they weren't eco-friendly.  You never know, it could happen some day soon. 

With our beautiful trees and restored historical houses here  it's ample playground for those beautiful Christmas lights.   I've done some very quick web searching and already found some much more eco-friendly lights. Since the holiday season is for giving and sharing, now's the time to share with your family and friends that it's time to think differently about the holiday season, and make it a green holiday.

Tis' time to switch to LED Christmas Lights.  Check these out.

 

They’re 255 times brighter than conventional LEDs, up to 90% more energy-efficient than incandescent lights, and stay cool to the touch even after hours of use. The lights are durable and weatherproof with a strong lens and no fragile filaments, and since each LED lasts up to 200,000 hours, nobody has to worry about trolling through the attic for extra fuses after swilling too much eggnog. Each strand is 24 feet long with 70 LED lights and can be used indoors or out. Multi-colored, $19.95; white $29.95 ::BrookstoneMO]
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UPDATE: My wife doesn't like the multi-colored ones.  So I quickly did more research.  Luckily, there are plenty of varieties available, and they're not all as expensive as the Brookstone one above.  Target, for instance, sells some white LED lights and they're only a little more than five bucks.


 

 


 

[11] Comments
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Posted at 09:39AM Dec 10, 2006 by cohen in Global Warming
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Posted by Tom Kay on December 10, 2006 at 11:46 AM PST #

I am also planning to get LED lights. They are just too cool. Peep into my Holiday Blog for some unique and interesting gift ideas and loads of other fun stuffs.

Posted by sean carter on December 11, 2006 at 01:58 AM PST #

LED Christmas lights are more widely available this year than last. Although demand has exceeded supply in the past few holiday seasons, manufacturers have ramped up production, increased quality, and the price has come down a bit.

LED Christmas lights are widely available online. Shop early and check out HolidayLEDs.com at www.holidayleds.com.

Posted by Phil on September 09, 2007 at 11:25 AM PDT #

In addition to LED lights, an organic fruit basket makes a great holiday gift. Its also kosher, healthy and delicious and available from several websites.

Posted by Fruit Baskets on September 27, 2007 at 04:56 AM PDT #

I found many stores like Brookstone, Target, Amazon at Couponalbum.com and many discounted coupons and coupon codes.....!

Posted by Justin on November 07, 2007 at 11:40 PM PST #

Are LED lights lead free? I doubt it.

Posted by Frank on December 11, 2007 at 02:51 PM PST #

http://clean-and-green.blogspot.com/

Posted by Clean-and-green on January 04, 2008 at 01:40 AM PST #

I switched to LED lights last holiday season and they are by far superior to your standard incadescent christmas lights. I actually like them so much I decided to keep them up all year long. LED lights last longer so I have yet to have to fumble with the lights and replace burnt out bulbs, they save energy and they are actually brighter and more colorful than your standard lights. I would encourage everyone to make the switch to led, i got my lights at <ahref="Http://christmascentral.com">www.christmascentral.com</a> they have a great selection of different colors and sizes of bulbs.

Posted by Lacey on April 15, 2009 at 08:46 AM PDT #

Sweeeeet Site! Hello why didn't anybody ever mention this Christmas Central place! www.christmascentral.com is my new best friend

Thanks

Posted by Bruno on April 15, 2009 at 01:41 PM PDT #

Hi,

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