The Eyes Have It: How to Be Kind to the Planet This Year

As this decade comes to an end, it’s a great time to reflect on all of the eco-friendly changes you have made as a person. Since 2009, your lifestyle has likely changed and will hopefully continue to as you move into the ‘20s to live the greenest life possible. Luckily, businesses are making it easier than ever for consumers to be kind to the planet, so take your green-living a step further this year and focus on unique ways to be sustainable that you may not have otherwise thought of. Do your part by shopping eco-friendly brands for something you use in your daily life, like your contacts or eyeglasses.

Contacts

It can be hard to shop as a consumer if you think you only have one option for items you use everyday. Think about contact lens packs; almost all brands have the same design and, if you wear daily contacts, the waste can add up fast. Did you know you don’t have to settle for wasteful plastic contact packs? Warby Parker recently launched their new daily contact lens brand, Scout, and is making strides in sustainability to make it easier for environmentally-conscious people to have products that better fit to their lifestyle.

Scout packaging looks vastly different than the contact packs you’re used to seeing. They are small and sleek, using up to 80% less plastic than traditional contact lens providers do. Additionally, when the 90-day supply of contacts arrive, the boxes they come in are recyclable. If you’re making green decisions a part of your life, don’t forget about the small, daily items you use that are made of plastic, like contacts. A simple change like this can make a difference in your plastic waste.

Glasses

Aside from their contacts, Warby Parker has also made efforts in sustainability when it comes to the production of their glasses and its packaging. Firstly, they are one of the only carbon-neutral glasses manufacturers in the world. The products used to make their frames are sourced responsibly and Warby Parker has reported they only work with third-party vendors whose dedication to the earth aligns with theirs. They also use recycled wood pulp to make their boxes and other packaging. Additionally, the company keeps track of their greenhouse gas emissions, waste, water, and energy used per product, all while being as transparent as possible about these facts.

Buy a Pair, Give a Pair Program

Their Buy A Pair, Give A Pair program distributes glasses to people in need, and in early 2019 the brand announced they had given away 5 million pairs. These glasses are distributed to people of all walks of life; at first, the program created training opportunities for men and women in low-income communities to start their own businesses. The trainees learned to administer basic eye exams and sell glasses at affordable prices. Now, a few years into the program, they have expanded and give glasses away to other people in need, including kids, and have been able to develop other programs to help children, like the Pupils Project.

Greening Your Eye Care Routine

Whether it’s glasses, contacts, or something else in your daily life that you’re realizing needs to be made more sustainable, make efforts to shop with brands that support this green lifestyle change. Simply researching brands’ production choices, charity involvement, and employee satisfaction can help you make an informed decision to buy from brands that care about others and the environment, just like you. Then you can continue to make the planet a healthier place throughout the next decade of your life and beyond.