Holiday Lights Collection

December 6 – January 31

Reduce Waste Chicago’s annual Holiday Lights collection campaign is back — and bigger than ever!

Last year, we collected 4,618 pounds of lights from 40 drop-off locations across 17 wards. That brought our four-year total to 10,574 pounds of lights diverted from the landfill.

This year, helped by a $5,000 grant from Union Pacific’s Community Ties Giving Program, we’re expanding to more wards across the city, making it easier for more Chicagoans to recycle broken string lights responsibly.

Important notes

✅ Try replacing bulbs and fuses first. All light sets come with extras
✅ Separate lights from any other decor, garland or wreaths
🚫 No plastic bags
🚫 No cardboard packaging

Also new this year, WasteNot Compost is joining as our logistics and transportation partner. They’ll again be collecting string lights from their customers — and they’ll be helping us move collected material efficiently and with zero-emissions across Chicago.

Community support powers this program. Each site is hosted by local businesses, schools, community organizations and public officials who care about sustainability. Together with you, we’re proving that small local actions can create citywide impact.

Where to drop off your broken holiday lights

Check out the map and list of locations below. We’ll be adding more in the coming weeks, so please check back! You can drop your nonworking lights off during regular working hours. However, due to holiday vacation staffing at some businesses, we advise to call ahead.

Are you a WasteNot Compost customer?

WasteNot Compost is partnering with us to offer broken holiday lights pickup in their WasteNot member shop! Add “String Light Collection” to your cart, follow the directions and WasteNot will collect the lights along with your compost.

List of drop-off locations

Please allow a moment for the list to load.

Thank you to our 2025-26 sponsors

Interested in helping us expand our Holiday Lights Collection program to all 50 wards?
Fill out this quick form to receive information about becoming a sponsor.