Author: Joel Harrison
Posted: 10 June 2010 23:05
It may sound counterintuitive, but disposable daily contact lenses seem to have a smaller impact on the environment than weekly or monthly contact lenses. This unexpected conclusion is based on the fact that daily contact lenses do not require, unlike weekly and monthly contact lenses, solutions necessary to keep them clean and ready for use. Previous calculations did not take that into consideration, focusing only on the material and production process of the lens itself.
Moreover, several companies are working on making daily contact lenses even more eco-friendly. Basically, they are developing technologies that would allow them to produce contact lenses from renewable materials.
It is estimated that more than 125 million people worldwide (approximately 40m in the US alone) wear contact lenses, and this number is constantly rising. Bearing that in mind, environmental issues concerning contact lenses – in spite of the product’s deceptively small size – should not be disregarded. To the satisfaction of environment-conscious customers, the multi-billion industry appears to have finally understood that.
