6 WAYS TO SAVE THE PLANET WITH YOUR EYEWEAR
When Avatar came out, 42 million pairs of 3D glasses were worn for 150 minutes each and then thrown away. This profligate use of plastic is not how to help Mother Earth. If you want to make your eyewear a force for good, here are 6 powerful paths:
1. Donate your old eyeglasses. Myoptic Optometry collects your old pairs, sorts them, and distributes them to recent immigrants through our eye care project with Portland’s Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization.
2. Choose frames made of a natural material. Myoptic Optometry carries Moonwoods hand-made wood frames from Portland, and Carter Bond frames with wood temples inspired by the classic looks of 1960’s London.
3. Don’t wear your contacts for longer than the recommended period. Some people think that wearing their 2 week lenses for 3 weeks will save the planet some plastic. Don’t do this. A single eye infection will cost more in panicked vehicle trips to the Emergency Room and rush-shipped antibiotics than years of pushing your lenses will ever save.
4. Purchase glasses with a heart. Consider Myoptic’s line of 141 frames; for every frame sold, 141 will donate a pair of glasses to a person in need. Amy Sacks sells beautiful glasses in order to support animal rescue and adoption services through the Pixie Project. And our new partner, Aframes, gives 5% of all profits to combat vitamin-A associated eye disease in Africa through Helen Keller International.
5. Reuse. Projects using reused lenses have appeared in museums around the world. Make a lampshade, a checkers game, or a dinner dress. The image above is Stuart Haygarth’s chandelier made of reused lenses (http://veryveryfun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=1). Please send us a photo of your project!
6. Appreciate at the wild and precious beauty of the world. Don’t just use your precise new lenses to answer emails faster. Go for a stroll in Forest Park and watch the leaves, sign up for Cycle Oregon and soak in our gorgeous state, take a picnic to the river and witness what makes our town great. Pour beauty into your eyes, and beauty will pour out of you.
Top image comes from a very cool project to bring glasses to Africans who cannot access professional eyecare, posted at: http://dvice.com/archives/2008/12/silver-glasses.php
“Wild and preciousĆ¢ā¬Ā comes from Mary Oliver’s The Summer Day: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/133.html
-Oliver Kuhn-Wilken, Optometrist
