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Are glasses / contact lenses beneficial to society? At first a simple question, yes they improve vision to those visually impaired but a deeper look may find that this may not be the case.

Let’s first look at how glasses / contact lenses work, you have two types of lenses, a concave lens and a convex lens. 

“A concave lens curves inward. That means it is thinner in the middle than at the edges. When light passes through a concave lens, the light rays bend so that they spread apart. Concave lenses make objects look smaller than they really are.

A convex lens curves outward. It is thicker in the middle than at the edges. When light passes through a convex lens, the light rays bend toward each other. The rays meet at a single point on the other side of the lens. Convex lenses magnify objects, or make them look larger.” (“Lens”)

So how could lenses be damaging to society? Well they are damaging to the environment but how you might ask, if your glasses break, what are you going to do with it. You are going to throw it out a buy yourself a new pair and where does your broken glass go? Most likely into a landfill to rot for the end of time. You can’t really recycle a pair of glasses as the frame is made from a special type of resin called CR39 which is difficult to recycle and must be taken to special recycling plants and the glasses cannot be broken. Contact lenses are in the same boat, the contacts are made of silicon and polymer gels which don’t decompose so they’ll inevitably end up in landfills or aquatic garbage patches polluting our wonderful planet. Well what if I don’t throw away my glasses and I keep mine for the rest of time? Well to make your glasses we need to heat up sand requiring a lot of heat and energy and the main way we do that is by burning fossil fuels polluting the air. While melting the glass sulphur oxides are released and if the glass is melted by gas nitrogen oxides are generated, so glasses isn’t the green product you may think.

 

But let’s take a step back, you can’t judge an argument based on one side so let’s look at the wonderful things lenses can do, they can improve vision to those whose vision has been visually impaired so they can do things like drive a car without risk of a car accident, play games with their peers or children, attend high school and college without special needs, in other words live a better life. Lenses also have a few nice gimmicks such as they can protect against eyes strains which is becoming more relevant with increase use of technology. Glasses aren’t only for those visually impaired as there are sunglasses which block out light from the sun which has many uses. Lenses are also very cheap, affordable and easily accessible to the public making them a great benefit to society.

So what can we do? We can’t just give up lenses they are too necessary to society? Well I have proposed some solutions.

1) Once you are done with your glasses and ready to buy a new pair don’t throw them away, rather donate them to a charity which could really benefit anther person in need, this may not prevent it from eventually landing up in a landfill but it will keep it out for a longer time.

2) Use cotton or wood framed glass, although it may not be as comfortable cotton or wood framed glass can be recycled and if needed, decomposed, it’s safer for the environment and is all natural

3) Look for retailers that utilise the Higg Index a standardised measurement tool that evaluates the environmental and social impacts of retailers’ supply chains.

4)For those of us who prefer contacts, opt for long-term contacts that you don’t need to dispose of often. This can dramatically help reduce the compounding plastic waste from daily contacts.

Bibliography.

“Lens.” Britannica Kids, kids.britannica.com/kids/article/lens/353377#:~:text=A%20concave%20lens%20curves%20inward. Accessed 14 Oct. 2023.

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greenlivingguy. “Environmental Impacts of Eyewear: Are My Glasses and Contacts Eco-Friendly?” Green Living Consultants, Companies, Electric Car Expert, Green Living, Electric Car News, 4 Apr. 2022, greenlivingguy.com/2022/04/environmental-impacts-of-eyewear-are-my-glasses-and-contacts-eco-friendly/#:~:text=Inevitably%20lenses%20end%20up%20in. Accessed 14 Oct. 2023.

Ravenhall, Lucy. “Is Glass Harmful to the Environment?” The Waste Management & Recycling Blog, 15 July 2020, www.forgerecycling.co.uk/blog/is-glass-harmful-to-the-environment/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2023.