The recent WTF in Lights illuminated art trail made me think about our sustainable journey here in practice.

I wondered how many people really knew that there is a more sustainable way to have fabulous eyewear, then realised that I had been very lax about actually telling people. Whoops!

My front of house team, Suzi, Emma, Melissa and Emily have been working hard for the past 3 years to set up as many recycling opportunities as possible and have sourced more sustainable, planet friendly products where they can.

If you want your next pair of glasses to be an eco friendly product just ask and we can show you the ranges that we have sourced. Suzi in particular is our driving force on this, so if you want to talk all things eco then Suzi is your woman!

Have a look at one of our suppliers here. Everything they make is sustainable or recycled and has been since 2009.

Frames made from recycled ocean plastics? recycled metal? castor bean seeds? Yes, Yes & Yes!

If we can’t get a truly green option then we quiz the manufacturers about their production methods and sustainability policies. Excess packaging gets sent back with a polite note saying “please do better, we don’t need all this single use plastic”.

If we don’t think our suppliers are trying hard enough to improve, then we switch suppliers! Thankfully Optics as a whole has really embraced the need to do better so the majority of the suppliers are making changes. Our spectacle lens suppliers are now recycling the water used in manufacturing processes and looking at how their plastic waste products can be repurposed.

SO WHAT ELSE HAVE WE DONE?

Our spectacle cleaning cloths are made from recycled plastics (rPET) and our spectacle cleaning solution comes in refillable bottles – that shiny green bottle on the wall as you come in? it’s not our secret Gin stash! It’s spectacle cleaner – buy your bottle and refill it FREE whenever you run out!

We recycle all cardboard packaging and have eliminated printing where we can. We even buy recycled loo roll in bulk!

Our teabags don’t contain any plastic (I didn’t even know that was a thing – did you??)

We buy local for anything we need for the practice if we possibly can, and we try and consolidate online purchases to reduce the number of deliveries we get.

We have a recycling bin for all our soft plastics, including contact lenses, and another recycling bin for old spectacles.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BUILDING?

Well, the building is a challenge! It is a Grade 2 listed building in a Conservation area, so we can’t replace the windows or doors, but we have added extra insulation where we can, put in more energy efficient lighting and heating and we try to switch lights and equipment off whenever we can. If anyone has any more ideas about how to improve a building’s green credentials within the limitations of the Grade 2 listing please do let us know!

CAN WE DO MORE?

Absolutely! We are always looking at ways to improve and we are very aware that we have a way to go yet before we can call ourselves 100% eco friendly. We may never get there but that doesn’t mean we have to stop trying.

We are off to a trade show this weekend (by public transport of course!) so our focus is on checking out even more exciting eco friendly ranges.

ARE THE GREEN ALTERNATIVES MORE EXPENSIVE?

As a Community Optometrist we are very aware that the green products generally come with a higher price tag, and we are doing what we can to source green alternatives in our budget styles. However, we do have options to allow you to spread payments so, if you want to go green but need a little help, then please just ask! To plagiarise a well know supermarket slogan – every little helps….