by kate |
Today I went to the eye doctor & I needed new glasses for a couple of reasons.
1. My prescription was outdated, short story: I couldn’t see out of them anymore.
2. My glasses were WAY out of fashion. I haven’t gotten glasses for several years, so they were looking pre – tty dated.
So what do I do with my old glasses? In my lifetime I have had a total of 10 pairs of glasses (I think, math isn’t my strong suit, but I generally got a new pair of glasses every other year since 2nd grade). I even had a pair of glasses like Sally Jesse Raphael, big round red ones.
Lucky for me, my mom always recycled my old glasses, which is exactly what I will do with my most recent pairs. But where? More than 80% of the world’s population requires some sort of corrective vision tool, glasses or contacts, so you can imagine how many of those end up in the garbage, aka landfills.
Give the Gift of Sight is an organization that collects old glasses and adds new lenses to deliver to end product to those in need in developing countries. They will even repair old glasses, so if they are broken, bring them anyway! Drop off sites can be determined here, but most LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Target Optical or Lion’s Club collect your glasses.
Lion’s Club is an organization dedicated to helping communities. From building playgrounds to environmental issues, this group does a lot! Most people (including me) have heard about the Lions because of their dedication to collecting used glasses to provide sight to those who are in need. The group offers 17 recycling centers worldwide to collect glasses. Check out the journey of donated glasses here.
Of course, another option is to get new lenses put in your old glasses. This will prevent any additional frames from going anywhere. I chose not to go this route right now because Sally Jesse is totally eighties, but some people may like that look.
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Great article! Don’t forget, when you donate your eyeglasses, you get a tax deduction too:
http://www.justeyewear.com/tax-deductible-value-of-donated-glasses/
Hi Marc! Thanks for the tip!
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