For people living in developing countries, access to prescription eyeglasses often seems like a luxury out of reach.
However, the Lions Clubs of Tullahoma, Tenn. and Crisfield, Md. are hoping to make eyeglasses a little more accessible to these people through this month’s Recycle For Sight program, according to a June 12 Tullahoma Newsarticle.
Throughout this month, the Lions Club of Crisfield will be accepting donations of prescription eyeglasses along with both prescription and non-prescription sunglasses from members of the community. The glasses will then be cleaned, organized according to prescription and prepared for distribution throughout developing nations, according to the Tullahoma News.
Choosing to donate old sunglasses is especially beneficial for the environment as well as citizens of developing nations. Because more than one billion pairs of sunglasses are sold each year, it’s important to keep used pairs of sunglasses out of landfills and in use. If one’s eyeglass prescription changes, then their old pair of glasses usually goes in the trash as well.
“We need everyone to donate their used eyeglasses,” David Alexander, of the Tullahoma Downtown Lions Club, told the Tullahoma News. “In most developing countries, an eye exam can cost as much as one month’s wages and a single eye doctor may serve a community of hundreds of thousands of people.”
According to the Tullahoma News, residents of Crisfield and Tullahoma may donate their used eyeglasses or sunglasses by dropping them off in Lions Recycle For Sight collection boxes that can be found throughout their respective areas.
