Day 106 – A study at the Arizona State University, revealed that 15 to 20 percent of contact lens wearers dispose of the lenses down the sink or toilet. That comes out to be about 1.8 billion to 3.36 billion lenses flushed per year in the United States. By washing or flushing away your contact lenses, you are contributing to the microplastic situation that is plaguing our waterways.
Even though disposing of your contact lenses in the trash is definitely better for the environment than sending them down the sink or toilet, an even better solution is recycling them.
TerraCycle has partnered with Bausch & Lomb, to recycle any brand of contact lenses, along with their packaging. All you have to do is type in your zip code and it will locate the closest drop-off location.
So, grab yourself a container or paper bag and start collecting. Once, you have 6 months or a year saved up, drop them off at the closest drop-off location. You’ll be shocked by how much waste you are diverting from the landfill and waterways, by just setting them aside for recycling.
For those in the Northcenter neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods, we will be accepting contact lenses and packaging at our monthly Recycle Popup, happening tomorrow (Saturday, April 17) from 9am-12pm, at the Northcenter Town Square (4100 N. Damen) . Check our LIST for other items we’ll be collecting.
Tomorrow, must see TV.
365 Ways to Save the Planet 