Are you conscious of how the products you’re using can impact the environment? In today’s society, sustainability is a conversation in nearly all industries. Maybe you haven’t thought about how the ways you’re improving your vision could be negatively affecting our planet, but it’s important to understand what you can control on the matter. Contact lenses are both packaged in and made up of plastic materials, not exactly putting them in the eco-friendly category. That being said, there are always ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle your plastic waste: including your contact lenses.
Your contact lenses should never get flushed down the toilet!
To give you a better understanding of the relationship between your contacts and the environment, we’ve gathered the basics of harmful plastic waste and what you can do to ensure that your path to better vision isn’t contributing to it.
While plastic has positively shaped many aspects of our day-to-day lives, it doesn’t mean that it hasn’t left harmful impressions on our planet. There is ample evidence to show how disposable plastic results in littering the environment, specifically affecting wildlife. Because of the reduced UV exposure and lower temperatures of aquatic habitats, disposable plastics can linger for thousands of years. Besides its effect on wildlife, plastic also contributes greatly to the use of fossil fuels and landfill wastes that contaminate groundwater.
According to Environmental Health News, “One solution is to treat plastic as a reusable material rather than as a disposable commodity that’s quickly discarded.”
Whether you’ve decided that daily or monthly contacts are better for you, it’s important to consider the ways that you can make either option a sustainable, environmentally-friendly one. As we already stated, your contact lenses should never be flushed down the toilet! Simply put, flushing your contact lenses is a no-go, as it results in them ending up in the wrong water-waste systems.
Although monthly lenses are eco-friendlier in the sense that you’re throwing out fewer lenses in comparison to daily lenses, it’s said that one annual supply of daily lenses is equivalent to one bottle of solution + case. Solution and a case are typically bought every 1-2 months by monthly wearers.
Cooper Vision has taken on a progressive approach to sustainability by collaborating with manufacturing sites worldwide to developing products made from 95% recycled products. Cooper Vision’s Clariti 1-Day is the first net plastic neutral contact lens and with every lens sold in the US, they partner with Plastic Bank to collect, convert, and prevent any plastic from ending up in our oceans.
In combination with TerraCycle, a social enterprise that fights to eliminate waste, Bausch + Lomb offers a One by One Recycling Program. This program allows doctor locations to participate by joining the program, properly collecting contact lenses from patients, and shipping them for free once the designated One by One Recycling Bin is full.
At ForSight, we offer the top four manufacturers of contact lenses: Vistakon, Alcon, Cooper Vision, and Bausch + Lomb.
To learn more about what contact lenses are best for you and how to sustainably dispose of them, please visit our website or call or text our office at (912)-483-6600.
If you need to reach Dr. Morrow after business hours please call our main office at 912-483-6600. Our voicemail will prompt you to dial #1 for emergencies which will transfer your call directly to Dr. Morrow’s cell phone.
NOTE: There is a $100 after-hours service fee for eye emergencies seen after normal business hours listed below.
Mon – Wed: 7:30am – 6pm
Thurs – Fri: 7:30am – 4pm
Sat – Sun: Closed