Kind of ironic to write about green eye glasses on a blog called Green Colored Glasses, right? It’s amazing to me the range of products that are emerging onto the market for eco-conscious shoppers. The optical field of products is no exception.
With a little research, it’s possible to find several different brands of environmentally friendly eye glasses. There are even some like the ones pictured here that are manufactured without the use of screws, hinges or soldering at all. This really cuts down on the environmental impact of both manufacturing and recycling these kind of glasses. Both the frames and the lenses are made partially from recycled materials and the entire pair is recyclable when you’re done with them.
There are other kinds of eco-friendly glasses that are made with recycled plastics and recycled stainless steel. Some companies will even plant a tree for each pair purchased! There are many companies that are involed in the 1% for the earth idea too where one percent of the company’s profits are donated to environmental charities.
Several optical companies include a mail in package to recycle the eyeglasses when you are done with them. However, I’ve always donated my used glasses to be sent to developing countries overseas. That way, the glasses go to people who need them. I know that shipping glasses overseas is a questionable practice on a global scale with the environmental footprint of shipping being quite large. But with the cost of eye glasses sometimes equaling up to 3 months pay for people, it would seem to me to be worth it!
My point here is to be conscious of every purchase you make and every item that you get rid of. There seems to be environmentally friendlier options for everything you can think of. Even items that are an absolute necessity such as eye glasses.
