As the holiday season approaches, millions of Americans partake in the festive time of year by adorning their homes with thousands of colorful light bulbs. While Christmas lights are mesmerising for people of all ages, the environmental impact and expenses associated with home decorating lay hidden beneath the festivities.
The Christmas lights industry is huge with a market size of $8.1 billion with sales spiking around the holiday season. Christmas light manufactures know this and have steadily increased prices by an average of 7% per year.
While Christmas lights are supposed to be reusable and last four to six years of seasonal use, 35% of Americans choose to abandon their old lights and buy a new set every year due to numerous failures including incandescent bulbs burning out, fuse failures or a dislodged shunt.
“Every year, I always have to buy a new set of Christmas light just because they always have multiple bulbs burnt out or half the strand doesn’t work, it’s extremely frustrating,” shared high-school senior Colin Reece.
The most common Christmas lights consumers purchase are incandescent bulbs, which consume 80-90% more energy than their LED counterparts and last for a fraction of their life. An average American will spend $280 for the holiday season on just powering their home Christmas lights while using LEDs can lower the bill to an average of only $27.
“After switching to LED, our house electricity bill went down compared to last year by a sizable amount. We always love hanging up Christmas Lights every year, but the high electric bill is always very upsetting. LED’s truly have brought a new joy to the holidays,” stated high-school senior Karl Hellinga.
Despite this, nearly 60% of Americans still choose to decorate their homes every year with the majority using expensive and faulty incandescent bulbs. The reason for this is most likely nostalgia. Most Americans prefer incandescent bulbs as they offer a warm glow compared to LED’s cold, soulless shine.
“I remember my Christmas tree used to always give off such a warm glow that made the room feel inviting and comforting. However, when my parents bought LED alternatives to save money on electricity, the Christmas tree this year made the room feel cold and evil,” added Reece.
However, as LED Christmas light technology advances, more companies are producing LED sets that mimic the same warm glow that incandescent bulbs offer and they’ll be labeled as “warmer” colors.
Furthermore, Americans produce one million extra tons of trash per week around the holiday time, whether this be gift wrappings or Christmas trees, dysfunctional Christmas lights make up a majority of this trash.
However, Christmas lights are made of recyclable materials and can be brought to local recycling plants or hardware stores such as Home Depot or Lowes to minimize environmental impact.
As LED light bulbs grow in popularity, the affordability of home decorating and the lessened environmental impact shine a bright future for home decorators to ditch the incandescent bulb and move towards a more sustainable Christmas future.
