Nonprofit Aims to Recycle Unwanted Holiday Lightsn Local Wal-Mart Stores Partcipating

Posted: Wednesday, December 12, 2012 5:32 pm | Updated: 4:17 pm, Fri Dec 14, 2012.

St. Louis Green, in partnership with Wal-Mart, is once again working to collect unwanted holiday lights.

With over 500 collection sites, the partnership hopes to double last year’s success.

“Our goal this year is 128,000 pounds, that’s four tractor-trailer loads diverted from landfills,” said St. Louis Green founder Craig Jung.

Once collected, the lights will be recycled and sent back to manufacturers to be used in new products. A portion of the drive proceeds will go to Operation Food Search, a St. Louis area food bank.

The drive is being expanded this year. The collection sites, including the 98 participating Wal-Mart locations, can be found at http://stlouisgreen.com. The Wal-Mart stores in Washington, Union, Sullivan, Cuba, Warrenton and Owensville are all participating.

Lights can be dropped off at the Wal-Mart locations through Dec. 30, and all other locations through Jan. 13.

Earlier this year, the drive received two statewide awards. The Missouri Recycling Association honored both St. Louis Green and Wal-Mart with its Outstanding Collection Program award.

In addition, the Missouri Waste Control Coalition gave the retailer and nonprofit organization its Outstanding Achievement award for Environmental Stewardship.

St. Louis Green, Inc., was founded to address a need in the St. Louis community for information about green businesses, green products, and green events.

Jung had noticed that people were looking for information and education about sustainable lifestyles. In 2007, he created StLouisGreen.com, a resource for everything green in the St. Louis region. The mission of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is to empower others to learn about and implement sustainable lifestyles.