Happy Earth Day! 

When talking about living sustainably, we typically picture out using reusable bags or metal straws. But if you’re one of the 45 million Americans who wake up and pop in a pair of contact lenses, you might be shocked when you realize that eye care has a footprint too. Plastic blisters, the lenses themselves, and the bottles of solution; they all add up when thrown away.

The good news? You don’t have to choose between seeing clearly and protecting the planet. The eye care world is finally starting to wake up. The eye-care industry is seeing a shift toward smarter packaging and even the early stages of biodegradable lens materials.

To make each day of the year Earth Day, challenge yourself to think about how you wear your vision. Small tweaks, like proper recycling programs or choosing brands that offset their plastic use, make a massive difference over a lifetime of wear.

The Environmental Cost of Your Vision

It’s easy to put them in and go about our day without realizing that our vision comes with a hidden environmental cost.

Contact lenses are designed to be incredibly durable. Unfortunately, that makes them tough on the planet. They don’t just disappear when we’re done with them. Between the lenses themselves and the mountains of plastic blister packs they come in, they’re contributing to a massive plastic pollution problem.

Daily disposables are the biggest culprits here. They offer incredible convenience, but they’ve also turned vision care into a high-waste habit.

Fortunately, we’ve realized that healthy eyes and a healthy planet need to be part of the same conversation. The industry is now steadily moving toward biodegradable materials and packaging that doesn’t sit in a landfill for centuries. It’s up to us to push it forward.

Best Options for Greener Contact Lenses

A 100% plastic-free eco friendly contact lens doesn’t exist yet (primarily for safety reasons). The options, therefore, boil down on what creates the least amount of leftovers. Some create more waste because they have to be replaced so often, while others can actually help you cut down on packaging and discarded plastic.

• Monthly Contact Lenses
  One pair lasts an entire month. Thus, you’re throwing away significantly fewer lenses and plastic blister packs over the course of a year. It might seem like a small change, but in a year’s time, that’s a huge reduction in your personal plastic footprint.
  
• Biweekly Contact Lenses
  They still create way less waste than single-use dailies, but they offer a fresher lens more often than a monthly. For many people , this is the perfect “Goldilocks” balance; they enjoy great comfort with a much lower environmental impact.
  
• Daily Disposable Lenses With Reduced Packaging
  Dailies aren’t usually the first thing people think of when they think of eco-friendly contact lenses; they are thrown away every day. However, some manufacturers are now using flat-pack technology. These are ultra-slim foil packaging that uses up to 80% less plastic.
  
• Lenses Made With Bio-Based or Biodegradable Materials
  This is easily the most exciting frontier in eye care. Researchers are currently developing lens materials made from plant-based polymers that are designed to break down more easily.
  
• Silicone Hydrogel Lenses With Longer Wear Cycles
  Silicone hydrogel is the breathable favorite of the industry because it lets a lot of oxygen reach your cornea. Many of these high-tech lenses come in reusable biweekly or monthly versions. When you wear them as prescribed, you’re supporting your eye health and keeping piles of single-use plastic out of the environment.
  
• Specialty Lenses Designed for Longer Use
  For some, hard or Rigid Gas Permeable (RGP) lenses are the ultimate sustainable choice. Because they can last a year or longer, they are essentially the slow fashion of the contact lens world. They require an adjustment period and aren’t for everyone. But from a waste perspective, they are hard to beat. Less frequent replacement always equals less trash.

Eco-Minded Brands Worth Keeping an Eye On

Not every contact lens company approaches going green the same way. Some are redesigning their packaging, some invest heavily into massive recycling programs, and others are working to minimize or even neutralize their plastic use during manufacturing.

Vote with your wallet and support brands moving in the right direction. Here are a few names leading the pack. Contacts America carries all of these, so it’s a great place to start your sustainable switch.

• ACUVUE
  ACUVUE by Johnson & Johnson has moved to 100% sustainable paper packaging for their boxes and patient leaflets, all sourced from responsibly managed forests. While it doesn’t solve the lens waste itself, it’s a major win for reducing the cardboard and paper clutter that usually comes with your purchase.
  
• Clariti 1-Day
  If you love your daily lenses but hate the plastic guilt, Clariti 1-Day by CooperVision is a standout. It’s certified as a net plastic neutral contact lens. This means that for every lens sold, CooperVision funds the collection of an equal amount of plastic from the ocean.
  
• MyDay
  Also from the CooperVision family, the MyDay line follows that same plastic-neutral mission. It’s manufactured sustainably and offsets its plastic footprint, making it a top-tier choice for eco-conscious wearers who don’t want to give up the convenience of a high-performance daily lens.
  
• Alcon’s DAILIES and TOTAL Lines
  Alcon is a heavy hitter in the sustainability world. They’ve partnered with Plastic Bank to offset the plastic used in their most popular lines, such as DAILIES TOTAL1, TOTAL30, and Air Optix. Their goal is to keep millions of tons of plastic out of the ocean.
  
• Bausch + Lomb
  Bausch + Lomb really shines when it comes to the end-of-life cycle for your lenses. Their ONE by ONE program is the first and only nationwide recycling program specifically for contact lens waste.

Green Tech and Future Innovations for Eco Friendly Contact Lenses

The contact lens industry isn’t 100% waste-free yet, but it’s moving in a fascinating direction. Some of these changes are already happening in the boxes you buy, while others are still tucked away in research labs. A greener vision of the contact lens industry could look like this in the years ahead:

• Bio-Based and Biodegradable Materials
  Imagine an eco friendly contact lens that doesn’t sit in a landfill for centuries. One of the most promising areas of research involves lenses made from materials that break down safely after use. We aren’t quite at dissolvable lenses yet, but the science is moving fast.
  
• Lower-Waste Packaging
  A huge chunk of lens waste isn’t the lens itself. It’s the box, the foil, and the plastic tub. Manufacturers are now working on minimalist packaging that uses fewer raw materials and more recycled ones.
  
• Net Plastic Neutral Programs
  You’ve probably seen a “Carbon Neutral” label on many products. Now, we have “Plastic Neutral” lenses. As mentioned before, contact lenses aren’t plastic-free yet, but companies are now funding the collection and recycling of an equal amount of ocean-bound plastic for every box sold. It’s a bridge while we wait for new materials to be invented.
  
• 3D-Printed Contact Lenses
  3D printing could completely change the game. Instead of mass-producing millions of identical lenses, we might one day print a custom lens customized perfectly shaped for your eye. This means a better fit, more comfort, and less wasted material during the manufacturing process.
  
• Smart Contact Lenses
  Future lenses might monitor your eye pressure or track health signals, potentially replacing the need for other bulky plastic medical devices. It’s like a multi-tasker for a low-waste lifestyle.
  
• Drug-Delivering Contact Lenses
  Tired of plastic eye drop bottles? Researchers are working on lenses that slowly release medication for things such as dry eye or allergies. If this tech takes off, it could replace those tiny single-use plastic bottles with a high-tech, drug-delivering contact lens.
  
• Greener Manufacturing and Shipping
  Sustainability is also how contact lenses got to your pharmacies, optical centers, and online retailers. Behind the scenes, factories are switching to renewable energy, cutting down on water use, and finding smarter ways to ship products to reduce their carbon footprint.

FAQ Asked Questions About Eco-Friendly Contact Lenses

Your Earth Day Pledge

Are you a contact lens wearer? Here’s a simple Earth Day pledge you can take. Start paying a little more attention to the products you put in your eyes and the footprint they leave behind.

That could mean

• Choosing a brand with flat-pack or reduced packaging.
• Chatting with your eye doc about switching to a reusable monthly lens if it’s a fit for your lifestyle.
• Specifically supporting companies that are funding ocean plastic cleanups.

The future of vision care is going to be much greener than we can ever imagine. We’re already seeing incredible progress in materials and design, and even more wow technology is right around the corner. The more we show that we care about sustainable options, the more pressure there is for the entire industry to keep leveling up.