Optometrists across the country are asking the people of Lilydale to donate their pre-loved glasses to help communities in need, after new research has found that on average, 75 per cent of Australian households have at least one pair of optical glasses or sunglasses lying around at home that they no longer use.
This equates to a whopping 36 million pairs of unused optical glasses or sunglasses across the country that could be used by those in need.
As we head into the Christmas period, it’s the perfect time to help Specsavers Lilydale reach their goal of collecting 200,000 pairs of glasses. To put that into perspective if the glasses were placed end to end, they could stretch from Lilydale to Melbourne CBD.
Local Lilydale Specsavers retail partner, James Gittings said that this time of year is a fantastic time to think about donating glasses.
“We see a huge influx of people wanting to use their health insurance benefits to purchase a new pair of glasses. We’d love to see more people donating their old specs in store so they can benefit people in need.”
In partnership with Lions Recycle for Sight, Specsavers is now into their fourth year of the recycling program, which sees quality glasses and sunglasses being delivered to people in need overseas.
In 2018, Lions Recycle for Sight sent 334,860 pairs of refurbished spectacles to 20 destinations overseas.
More than one billion people worldwide are living with vision impairment because they do not get the care they need for conditions like short and far sightedness, glaucoma, and cataracts.
Additional research shows that almost one in five Aussies, the equivalent of 3.5 million Australians, will be purchasing a new pair of optical or sunglasses this year – adding to the older or pre-loved glasses sitting at home which are perfect for donating.
While some discarded specs will collect dust, as many as one in four, or 4.5 million people, are simply just throwing them in the bin.
“We’ve loved being able to directly work with the community in helping them to recycle their older pairs of glasses. It’s such a great feeling – being able to tangibly see the impact that you’re making.” James said.
All pre-loved glasses that are sent to Lions Recycle for Sight from Specsavers are quality tested, cleaned, categorised and boxed according to prescription. The best of the glasses collected are provided to charity, while the rest of the glasses are recycled.
Over the past four years, Specsavers Australia have donated over 700,000 pairs in partnership with Lions Recycle for Sight and are hoping to collect another 400,000 by the end of 2022 – heading toward a goal of over one million pairs of glasses donated only five years since the partnership began.
To head in store to donate any of your own pre-loved glasses, visit Specsavers Lilydale at 65/45 Hutchinson St, Lilydale, or visit https://www.specsavers.com.au/stores for more information.
