- New study reveals Brits collectively bin up to 1.3M miles of Christmas Lights – enough to circle the earth 51 times.
- The Warninks ‘swap and recycle’ initiative will be a FREE bookable service which delivers a Warninks Light Technician to your door, who will deliver new Christmas lights and recycle the old.
- As part of the service, you’ll also receive the ingredients for an iconic Snowball cocktail and a much-coveted Warninks yellow Christmas jumper.
- Giving broken fairy lights a second chance, the initiative encourages households to ditch the bin and recycle responsibly, ensuring less waste and more sparkle all around.
Up to 1.3 million miles of Christmas tree lights are being collectively binned by Brits over a lifetime – enough to wrap around the world 51 times2.
With the festive season almost upon us, Brits across the country will be lighting up their homes and toasting to the joyous months ahead. However, new research reveals the average household throws away 77 metres1 of Christmas lights in their lifetime, with more than a quarter (29%) of Brits admitting they do not try and repair or recycle the broken decorations before throwing them out.
The poll of 2,000 UK adults by Christmas cream liqueur Warninks Advocaat, shows UK adults will collectively spend a staggering £23 billion on festive lights over their lifetime – an average of £429 per person. Yet over half (57%) of the nation simply abandon the broken lights in their loft or attic to gather dust, instead of recycling them.
The survey reveals Britons will throw away a staggering 323 million boxes of Christmas lights throughout their lives – an average of six boxes per person – rather than recycle them4.
Most-guilty of throwing away lights are millennials5, followed by baby boomers6.
Of those surveyed, Birmingham residents are also some of the worst offenders for chucking away the popular twinkling decoration. Over half of Brummies polled (58%) admitted to throwing out 500 metres throughout their lives. On the flip side, Plymouth topped the poll of ‘most sustainable decorators’ as close to two-thirds (61%) of the Devon city reported that they attempt to fix their broken Christmas lights.
When quizzed on how they dispose of their broken Christmas lights, men were less likely to consider recycling with just over one in ten men (11%) recycling their Christmas lights, compared to one in seven (13%) women. Women are also more likely to tinker with the twinkling decoration to try and save it, with nearly half (45%) of women opting to repair Christmas lights before throwing, compared to just four out of 10 men (40%).
The study was commissioned to mark the launch of Warninks Christmas Tree Light Replacement Service – a new yuletide initiative where you trade in old, broken Christmas tree lights to be recycled and they’ll be replaced with brand-new ones.
The hassle free ‘swap and recycle’ initiative will be a FREE bookable service for adults which delivers a Warninks Light Technician to your door. As part of the service, you’ll also receive the ingredients for an iconic Snowball cocktail and a much-coveted Warninks yellow Christmas jumper – because nothing says chic like festive custard vibes. Think twinkling trees, cozy knitwear and the timeless flavour of holiday nostalgia in a glass! Warninks, the retro Christmas favourite, famous for its classic Snowball cocktail, is making a stylish return to modern mixology.
How the Warninks Christmas Lights Replacement Service works:
The Warninks Christmas Lights Replacement Service will be rolled out in Hackney, in London (E1, E15, E2, E20, E5, E8, EC1V, N16 postcodes only) on Monday 9th December, Manchester and Salford (M1, M2, M3, M4 postcodes only) on Tuesday 10th December, and Edinburgh (EH10, EH12 postcodes only) on Wednesday 11thDecember.
Simply go to the booking website to book slot, then sit back, relax, and sip on a retro Snowball cocktail – the velvety treat, made with Warninks Advocaat. While stocks last, the slots are booked on a first-come, first-served basis and for those aged 18-years and over.
Please note there is limited availability, and bookings will only be made for residents in the given postcodes – so get in there fast!
As divisive as the classic British debate: which goes first on a scone – clotted cream or jam? The question of whether to start with the fairy lights, decorations, or tinsel is carving up households across the nation according to the new study.
Everyone has their own take on tree-decorating etiquette. In Manchester, it’s lights first, however for neighbouring city Liverpool, it goes decorations, then lights. Meanwhile, Glaswegians follow a tinsel-first strategy – followed by decorations, and then lights.
This division of tree dressing tactics isn’t just tradition – it’s blowing family fuses. Households who put the lights on first are almost twice as likely to squabble when the grand switch-on reveals… the lights frustratingly don’t work.
On the flip side, almost a cool-headed seven out of 10 (71%) who test their lights beforehand, manage to avoid the drama.
With nearly one in five (19%) of families skipping the crucial step of testing the lights before decking the halls, it’s no wonder that the average British household encounters two heated moments during each decorating session.
But no matter their approach to cheering up their homes, Brits do agree on one thing – turning on the Christmas tree lights tends to mark the true beginning of the holiday season.
Almost two-thirds (63%) say it’s the magical moment that turns their home into a winter wonderland. Meanwhile, almost a tenth (9%) of adults say that Christmas doesn’t officially begin until they’ve sipped their first Snowball – a smooth, iconic cocktail made with Warninks Advocaat.
Warninks brand manager, Rebecca Cresswell said: “Snowball cocktails have been a festive favourite for generations and this December the Warninks Christmas Lights Recycling Service is here to keep the sparkle alive in your home. If your Christmas tree lights have fizzled out, don’t worry – and definitely don’t bin them. Hand them over to our cheerful Warninks Light Technician and let us help light up the season responsibly”.
Calling all cocktail lovers, the mother and daughter duo Helen and Hannah Lederer have teamed up with Warninks for the second year to show Brits how to make the perfect Snowball cocktail and throw the best retro party ever. If you wish to see them in action, head over to the Warninks Instagram and Facebook page.
Warninks Snowball Cocktail Recipe
One of the most cherished retro delights, the Warninks Snowball cocktail, continues to be a festive favourite in the winter months.
Method
- Pour 50ml of Warninks Original Advocaat into a coupe glass,
- Add 100ml lemonade
- Squeeze the juice of ¼ of a lime
- Add a glace cherry on top to garnish
Warninks Original Advocaat (RRP £11/£11.50, 70cl, 17.2%) is available this Christmas to UK retailers from Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, ASDA, Morrisons, Co-op and Amazon.
- The study was commissioned by Warninks Advocaat and carried out by Sago. Sample: 2,005 UK adults The data was collected between 3rd – 5th November 2024.
- Christmas lights wrapping around the world 51 x times
- 77m x 26.4 milllion homes = 2032800000m – 2032800000m = 2032800km (conversion)
- 2032800km /40,075 distance around the earth
- 2032800km divided by 40,075km = 50.7248908297 (51) number of times lights in the bin wraparound the earth.
- 2032800km = 1,263,123.36 miles
- A staggering £23 billion on festive lights over their lifetime:
- 68,350,000 UK Population (as of Jan. 1, 2022) Source: https://www.electionguide.org/countries/id/225/
- Of those, 14,403,544 of those are under 18. Source: Unicef https://data.unicef.org/how-many/how-many-children-under-18-are-there-in-the-uk/
- Total UK Adults: 53946456
- The average UK adult spends £429 on festive lights over their lifetime.
- £429 x 53,946,456 = £23,143,029,624
- The average UK adult throws away 6 boxes of Christmas lights during their lifetime.
- Total UK Adults: 53,946,456(based on calculations above)
- 53,946, 456 x 6 boxes = 323,678,736 million boxes as a nation
- On average, Millennial respondents scrapped 83.9m of Christmas lights in their lifetime
- Baby boomers scrapped 80m of lights in their lifetime on average.
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