Holiday Light Exchange
Turn in Your Incandescents
This December, the South Coast Energy Efficiency Partnership (SCEEP) is helping South County residents transition to earth- and wallet-friendly LED holiday lights through its 4th Annual Light Exchange. Locals have the opportunity to bring their energy-guzzling strands of incandescent bulbs and exchange them, free of charge, for a strand of energy-efficient LED bulbs.
Locations throughout the South County are taking old, working, incandescent holiday lights in exchange for a strand of the light-emitting diodes-one LED strand per customer, though participants are encouraged to bring multiple strands, and supplement the free strand with more of the same from vendors like Orchard Supply Hardware and Home Improvement Center, both of which will host one-day exchange events. SCEEP has employed MarBorg to recycle the materials in the used lights.
Those swapping their holiday lights must be residents of Santa Barbara, Goleta, or Carpinteria, and be Southern California Edison residential customers. Besides sponsoring locations exchanging lights on the daily basis, SCEEP will hold special one-day exchange events like the one on the holiday edition of 1st Thursday, which saw a steady stream of progressive holiday decorators receiving strands of multicolored LEDs.
LED lights can last as much as 10 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs, according to stats released by SCEEP. They use up to 90 percent less energy for the same amount of light. They are also more durable (not made of glass) and safer (cool to the touch).
Residents may exchange their holiday lights at the following locations and times (lights available through December 20th or while supplies last):
Carpinteria City Hall, 5775 Carpinteria Ave. Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Carpinteria Community Pool, 5305 Carpinteria Ave. Monday-Friday, 6 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. Saturday 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Goleta City Hall, 130 Cremona, Suite B Monday – Thursday, 8 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Santa Barbara Central Library, 40 E. Anapamu St. Monday – Thursday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Community Environmental Council, 26 W. Anapamu St, 2nd Floor. Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
SCEEP will also hold one-day holiday light exchange events:
Carpinteria Boy Scout Tree Lot, Saturday, December 5, 12- 4 p.m. Carpinteria Ave., under the historical Torrey Pine (across the street from the Carpinteria Public Library)
Orchard Supply and Hardware, 125 N Fairview Ave. Sunday, December 6, 12-4 p.m.
Santa Barbara Home Improvement Center, 415 East Gutierrez St.Saturday and Sunday, December 12 & 13, 12-4 p.m.
Visit SCEEP.org for a list of stores selling LED holiday lights.
