Good eyewear is of ironist importance to protect one's vision and eyesight; both prescription eyewear and sunglasses hold their importance. However, the majority are either made of plastic or non-recyclable material. So if you're environmentally conscious, that's going to be a huge negative. However, some brands have taken a step in the right direction with unique designs and eco-friendly materials. Each brand has a unique story for what they do, so explore the range of the following eyewear to awaken your inner eco-friendly fashionista:
Swell Vision
Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants globally, growing as much as 35 inches per day! It has great tensile strength as well and is more sustainable than plastics. Swell Vision has harnessed the power of bamboo to handcraft every frame using sustainably sourced bamboo and a plant-based acetate material. Being a sponsor for various scholarship programmes, for every pair of Swell Vision glasses you buy, they cover 2 weeks of education tuition for a local student. The impact of even one person buying a pair of glasses is huge to that one student at a really low cost to the purchaser.
Pela’s Eyewear
Pela Vision is a new addition to Pela, a brand that had already gained fame for making eco friendly phone cases, so they already have experience in the field. This brand specialises, particularly in women's sustainable eyewear. They provide a quality linen case and cloth with every pair of glasses they sell, and the collections are based on prominent female personalities who've worked for the environment and justice like Maya Angelou, Dian Fossey and Rachel Carson. The glasses are phthalate-free and made of Flaxetate: acetate and flax chives. Pela offers a programme to return no longer used glasses to be recycled or given to another needy person for the not entirely biodegradable models.
Sherwood’s Sunglasses
They have different lines where frames are made out of unique and unusual materials like pinecones, slate stone, and seashell resin. Each piece is luxurious, unique, and eco-friendly. They're also experimenting with plant-based lens solutions to further boost their impact on the world. Nature inspires and motivates the Portland-based Shawood to further reduce the carbon footprint of the world. There is a lot of diversity in styles as well, to suit the classic as well as the unconventional.
Water haul
As its name suggests, water haul looked at the water and literally used its hauls: discarded fishing nets recovered from the ocean, recycled into new and unique products. The nets would've otherwise tangled and killed turtles, dolphins and other marine creatures. Plastic fishing nets are not biodegradable and persist for millions of years. And are harmful to marine life as well since they were made to catch marine life. Each frame is unique and comes with a lifetime guarantee. The company has also developed a mechanism to recycle its older frames into new ones. There's a matte colour option with a subtle pattern representing the nets from which it was made from.
Warby Parker
"Buy a pair, give a pair" is Warby Parker's slogan. For every pair of glasses, one buys, one will be gifted to someone in need. More than 40 million people in more than 50 countries have benefited from this initiative. They have partnered with various NGOs to ensure that it is a well-organised drive. The frames are high quality as well as affordable. Warby Parker has recently started a drive for vision testing in different countries across the world to supply eyewear to those who need them. The glasses are made of plant-based acetate or highly durable titanium.
Ozeano Vision
Ozeano is another young brand that has picked a fight against the plastics plaguing our seas and oceans. Each of their pairs is handmade and unique. For every pair of eyewear sold, 12kg of plastic material is removed from the ocean. They've partnered with a company called the Seabin Project and their ocean cleaning technology for this purpose. Ozeano glasses are perfectly biodegradable within 110 days and are fitted with polarised UV-400 lenses. Their courier bags are compostable as well.
Proof Eyewear
Made from FSC certified wood, cotton-based safety is and repurposed skateboard decks, Proof eyewear fulfils its mission of doing good around the world. They donate a part of their revenue to causes like deforestation in Haiti and to fund eye clinics in India. They have branches in Peru, India and Taiwan as well. The proof is the choice of many celebrities like Beyoncé as well. The variety in the material is astounding as well. You can get a frame made of wood, plant-based plastic or recycled aluminium.
To conclude, even a small step can make a change, as aptly proven by these brands. Beat the heat while being the change by joining hands with them and trying out their eyewear!
