Sustainable products are becoming more and more fashionable, which is good news! However, consuming this type of stuff just because it’s popular doesn’t generate deep environmental or social transformations.
We need to go towards a more responsible consumption paradigm. To do so, each person must wonder: Which impact the product I am buying will cause?
And also to ask oneself: who was involved in its manufacturing process, do they work in dignified conditions, what materials is it made of, what impact is it going to leave on the environment?
Below, we present three triple impact projects (economic, social, and environmental) that manufactures sunglasses all over the world and have something in common: they use eco-friendly materials and improve people’s lives.
Qualia is committed to reducing plastic pollution through the manufacture of eyeglasses made from 100% recycled plastic.
It is estimated that 80% of marine pollution is plastic and, globally, only less than 10% is recycled.
Plastic waste generated by large industries often goes to landfills, dumps, or worse: to rivers and seas. Qualia intercepts this material, recycles it, and uses it as raw material to create the glasses.
Also, they are a carbon-neutral company. It means they offset the carbon footprint generated by their activity by planting trees.
So far, they have reached 10,000 kilos of recycled plastic in their glasses and 15,000 kilos of recovered rubber in their cases.
Together with ReforestArg, they have already planted over 500 trees in the native forests of Patagonia and, in tribute, the lens models have tree names.
Besides, during the pandemic, they collaborated with 215 plates of food for Banco de Alimentos, an organization that fights against hunger.
The enterprise is from Argentina, and they ship all over the world.
Parafina also works to slow down climate change, producing glasses with a wide range of materials:
The glasses are from recycled plastic, rubber, cork, and aluminum. They also combine materials such as rubber, bamboo, and metal to create their hybrid models.
They produce sunglasses, screen glasses, and reading glasses, and there are models for both adults and children.
Also, 5% of their sales go to #ParafinaSocialProject, a project through which they give children in Paraguay access to school and help their families to get out of poverty.
For every pair of glasses purchased, both the consumer and a child in Paraguay receive two products: an eco-friendly case, which is used by consumers to transport their sunglasses and by children to transport their school supplies, and an eco-pencil, which once used, is planted and grows a tree. Through this initiative, the organization minimizes the carbon footprint it generates.
So far, they have enrolled 90 children in a school, 3,500,000 recycled plastic bottles, 187,000 recycled plastic cans, 27,000 recycled cans, 5,000 recycled tires, and 250,000 recycled corks.
Parafina has sales points all over the world: Europe, Asia, America, Oceania, and Africa.
They manufacture wooden sunglasses from reforested cedar trees and cases made from recycled leather.
This undertaking arises to generate decent rural work opportunities for ten families in Paraje San Juan (Santa Fe, Argentina) affected by the lack of job opportunities after the closure of a factory in the area.
Each sun lens combines the artisan knowledge and technical expertise of the local community.
Artisans have the chance to apply their knowledge to trade and graduates of technical schools do not have the need to migrate to cities in search of work. In this way, local development is promoted.
Under a cooperative business model, ten craftsmen, women, and technical school graduates organize themselves to produce, make decisions together, and distribute the profits from each product sold in an equitable manner.
The eyeglasses models bear the names of the people involved in their manufacture.
From December 10th to 25th, Atemporal will have its collaborative financing campaign “Mirá futuro”, which will allow people to buy sunglasses in advance with a 30% discount, 3 installments without any interest, and free shipping. To learn more, click here.
The project is in Santa Fe, Argentina, and they ship within the country.
We know that consciously investing our money is a form of activism. We can be activists of positive change as responsible consumers and support organizations that are already positively transforming reality. Want to join us?
If you are interested in the subject, don’t miss this article about the circular economy.
