Plastic that floated in the Pacific last year has been transformed into sunglasses. The Ocean Cleanup – the Dutch non-profit organization developing advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic – has teamed up with renowned designer Yves Béhar and the eyewear company Safilo to release a limited edition line of recyclable sunglasses.
Designed in California by Yves Béhar, the Ocean Cleanup sunglasses are made from plastic waste that has been recovered from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. They are designed to be easily recycled once they reach the end of their life.
These lenses are limited edition in which each pair comes with a QR code that lets you link your sunglasses to you and show others the impact you have made with your contribution. It is estimated that each pair of lenses will allow the equivalent of 24 football fields worth GPGP to be cleaned and when each pair from the first batch is claimed, that will equal approximately 500,000 cleaning football fields in the Great Patch.
The sunglasses’ case is made from the HDPE floater of System 001, the first Ocean Cleanup system deployed in 2018, and the carrying pouch is made from recycled PET bottles. Just like the sunglasses, the case and pouch will be treasured as something special, and therefore, less likely to end up in our ecosystems.
The sunglasses are now available on The Ocean Cleanup’s website for a contribution of €/$199, through which supporters can own a pair of these sunglasses and help us maximize our cleanup impact. The proceeds from their sale will help fund the company’s mission to remove plastic from aquatic ecosystems. The company says that different product lines will be explored in the future.