What to do with your old eyeglasses

What do you do with your old pair of glasses if they break or you’ve replaced them with a new pair? Here’s 5 things that will give your spectacles a new lease on life and even help someone along the way, from recycling to rehoming.

Nearly half of all Australians wear glasses or contact lenses, and chances are that you wear glasses yourself or know someone who does. If that is the case then you should consider recycling your old glasses.

The benefits of recycling our old glasses include:

Sustainability and waste reduction
Being philanthropic in ways other than giving money
Teaching children the importance and impact of being charitable

The Fred Hollows Foundation no longer accepts donated glasses. A report by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) found that sending donated glasses to developing countries is more costly and less effective than providing new, ready-made glasses because of the cost of sorting donated glasses.
We always work hard to ensure every dollar donated is used effectively and the most cost-effective way for us to tackle refractive error in patients is to provide affordable, new glasses.

But this doesn’t mean you can’t recycle your glasses.

*COVER PHOTO: Mary Tran (2017)

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Click on the link below to go directly to the section you’re most interested in:

5 ways you can recycle your old glasses
What not to do with your old glasses

A patient from the Rakhaine Community after recieving glasses as part of World Sight Day 2011.
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Amendolia

5 ways you can recycle your old glasses

#1 Donate them to a glasses recycling program

One of the questions we are most frequently asked at The Foundation is ‘where can I recycle my old glasses?’

The Lions Organisation’s Recycle For Sight program sends some 450,000 pairs of glasses to developing countries every year.

You can send your old glasses to be part of that, but the Recycle for Sight program asks you not to send glasses cases. Instead, wrap them in bubble wrap or put them in a padded bag, and post them to:

LIONS Recycle For Sight Australia Inc
PO Box 3021
Clontarf MDC
QLD 4019

You can also take your pre-loved glasses into your local Specsavers store and place them in the glasses recycling box or hand them to a team member.

Alternatively, donate your glasses at any HCF branch to be forwarded to Lions Recycle for Sight.

A range of glasses waiting to be used at Kampong Chhnang Hospital’s Eye Unit in Cambodia.
PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Perkins (2017)

#2 Give them a new lease on life by selling them online, or gifting to a friend

Hand-me-downs can sometimes be overlooked but if you take the time to explain to your family or friends why reusing is the way to go, you can definitely sell them the idea.

Not only will they be helping reduce waste, they’ll also be scoring a new pair of glasses that’ll potentially save them hundreds of dollars!

And if you don’t have a friend or family member who wants or needs your old glasses or frames, you could look further afield by using a website such as Freecycle, where you can connect with like-minded people, who are actively trying to be more conscious consumers.

You could also take part in the circular economy and make sure your glasses are used to their full capacity by selling them locally on a site such as Gumtree or ebay.

#3 Repair your glasses, or take them to someone who can

Whether it’s a scratched lens, a dented frame or a missing screw, it’s possible your glasses can be repaired, saving you a fair bit of money.

Having a screw loose can send you batty but, as Sian Berry points out in her book Mend It!, a tiny screwdriver from an optician’s, electronics shop or even a Christmas cracker, could be enough to help you.

Or you can push some thin wire through the hole where the screw goes and use some pliers to wrap the wire around the inside of the frame several times before twisting the ends together with pliers.

If the bridge of your glasses has snapped, it doesn’t mean they’re finished. Glue and paper are all you need, as WikiHow explains.

You can use a commercially-available scratch repair kit to repair damage to your lenses, or you can use household products such as toothpaste or baking soda to polish your lenses and remove scratches. WikiHow explains just how to do it.

If you’re feeling a little handy and want to have a go at repairing your own glasses, check out this video on Youtube.

If you don’t have the time to do it yourself, you can also have it repaired professionally.

#4 Replace the lenses on your frames

If you like your frames but your prescription has changed or the lenses are damaged, you can simply replace the lenses in your existing frames. Most eyeglass outlets will let you take this option, reducing your waste and saving you money.

Our friends at Specsavers suggest you “visit your local store with the frames and have a chat with the team; they will be able to assess your glasses for suitability and will be able to give you a quote based on your requirements.”

#5 Save them for fancy dress occasions

Whether it’s that office Christmas party theme or a child’s Book Week dress-up challenge, your old frames might come in handy when you want to dress up as Harry Potter, Audrey Hepburn or Fred Hollows.

Dani Frost dressed as Prof. Fred Hollows, during a 'Night of Notables' at her school in Ormond, Victoria (Australia) in 2002.
Photo courtesy of Wendy Frost.

What not to do with your old glasses

If you throw your old glasses in the regular household bin, they will end up in landfill where the resilient plastic and glass will sit for generations.

The mix of materials in your glasses and frames means you can’t put them in your household recycling bin either and, if you do, they’ll just end up in a landfill anyway. So, it’s important you don’t throw your old glasses in the rubbish or recycling bins.

It’s also important not to let them sit in your desk or vanity drawer, gathering dust. Especially when you can easily donate them.

If you have ideas other than the five we’ve shared on what to do with old glasses then contact us and let us know!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matthew Perkins - The Fred Hollows Foundation

Matthew is The Fred Hollows Foundation's social media specialist. After realising he was paying his way through a psychology degree with media work, Matthew decided to take a crack at working as ABC Radio’s online and on-air producer in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. He figured, ‘why not make a stab of it as a career?!’

From Kalgoorlie, Matthew found his way to Perth and then on to Sydney, helping to establish the social media presence of both 702 ABC Sydney and ABC current affairs program, 7:30.

These days, Matthew uses those skills in the campaign to end avoidable blindness