We have ancient, giant, flagrantly incandescent Christmas lights, both indoor and outdoor. For the past few years we’ve felt like we should replace them with LED lights, but it seemed so wasteful to spend a couple hundred dollars on new lights, while junking the old ones that worked perfectly well.

But today, we’re going to make it happen!

There are two incandescent light exchange programs of note going on today — Sunday, November 8th — in the Ottawa area.

First of all, if you bring in two strings of old-style lights, you can trade them for a brand new string of LED lights (multi coloured, 35 lights) FOR FREE. It’s happening at St. Laurent Mall from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a maximum of three new strings per person. Get there early before they run out.

And secondly, Home Depot is having an exchange program today only, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You bring in one string of lights, and you get a coupon for 50% off any new LED lights, up to five strings worth. This might not sound as good as FREE but we’re actually going with this one, because Sir Monkeypants prefers white lights to multi coloured. We can trade in just two strings of lights, though, and get enough coupon power to replace all our indoor and outdoor lights for just $50. Plus, we’ll have enough strings left over to go grab a few freebies at St. Laurent if we feel up to it.

If you miss out on the November 8th special, Home Depot will still give you $3 off a new string of lights for every old string you bring in.

Whee, new lights! And saving the earth! That’s a home run.