You could be destroying the planet—one contact lens at a time.
The plastic pollution problem
The American Chemical Society presented the results of a study in which 20% of 400 contact lens wearers tossed their used contacts in the toilet or sink, flushing or washing them over to a treatment facility. But as any environmentally-aware person already knows, plastic isn’t easily biodegradable. And despite the treatments to break down particles, fragments of plastic remain. Making their way into surface water or the ocean and polluting our world. How big is the problem? It’s estimated that billions of contact lenses (or 22 metric tons) are flushed every year in the U.S. alone.
And that makes contact lenses a pretty major contributor to the plastic and microplastic pollution problem.
According to a 2015 study, there are currently somewhere between 93,000 and 236,000 metric tons of microplastic. Just floating around our oceans. You read right. Tons! And that plastic is making its way into our food, our air, our drinking water, our bodies. And right back to our oceans in a vicious cycle. The toxins in plastic have been linked to everything from cancer to birth defects. Microplastic in our oceans is destroying more than 100,000 marine animals a year.
And no ocean is exempt. From the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean, plastic pollution is rampant.
Addressing a global challenge
Many companies and regions around the world have already taken a stance against plastic pollution, creating straw-free or bag-free policies to reduce some of the biggest single-use plastic offenders that end up in our oceans.
And now on the heels of the research into contact lens pollution, companies and individuals can take a greener stance on their vision to reduce the plastic that’s literally killing our world. So what can you do?
The plastic-free solution
It turns out that ditching your contact lenses and glasses in favor of a long-term solution like LASIK or SMILE refractive surgeries could be a major move in making the world a truly better place for the long haul. Think about it. In the U.S. alone, about 45 million people wear contact lenses. And whether they’re wearing single-use or reusable contact lenses, that’s a lot of plastic getting dumped every year.
And in case saving the planet isn’t enough of an incentive, trading in your contacts for LASIK or SMILE means you also get some pretty great green savings. Before refractive surgery, you could be spending anywhere from $175-$1400 on contact lenses per year depending on your insurance, prescription and brand. If you’re 18, that’s a lot of years that you’ll be shelling out a lot of dollars for your vision.
With LASIK or SMILE solutions, you’ll pay a one-time fee (or get easy financing) to get the best, most convenient vision of your life—for the long-term. That means more money in your pocket at the end of the day.
Want to find out more about how LASIK or SMILE can make you an eco-hero while there’s still time to save the planet? Talk to our team today by calling 888-539-2211 or emailing us at [email protected]. Let’s save the world together by getting rid of contact lenses for good (and spreading the word!).
