CooperVision has announced that its full portfolio of silicone hydrogel 1-day contact lenses is now net plastic neutral through credits we purchase from Plastic Bank in Canada, expanding the company’s leadership in sustainability and increasing the environmental impact of this trailblazing initiative. The MyDay^® daily disposable family now joins the clariti^® 1 day family, which was the first net plastic neutral contact lens in Canada. In the year since the venture began, the U.S. effort has already prevented the equivalent of more than 22 million plastic bottles from reaching the world’s oceans. Globally, the initiative’s impact has grown to a total of nearly 28 million plastic bottles.

CooperVision’s net plastic neutral initiative is made possible through a partnership with Plastic Bank, a social enterprise that builds ethical recycling ecosystems in coastal communities and reprocesses the materials for reintroduction into the global supply chain. For every box of clariti^® 1 day or MyDay^® distributed in Canada, CooperVision contributes to the collection, processing, and reuse of general plastic waste that is equal to the weight of the plastic contained in the lenses and packaging.Over the last year, thousands of eye care professionals and their patients have already contributed to the cause, simply by prescribing and wearing clariti^® 1 day.

“Many current and prospective contact lens wearers are invested in improving the environment, and they make conscious purchasing decisions based on those values,” said Michele Andrews, OD, Vice President, Professional & Government Affairs, Americas, CooperVision. “By expanding the CooperVision net plastic neutral initiative to include two full families of silicone hydrogel 1-day lenses, we’re providing eye care professionals and their patients more options—and greater opportunity—to make a difference.”

In a 2021 survey, 95% of Canadian contact lens wearers say being plastic neutral has a positive impact on their interest in trying a daily disposable lens. Similarly, 89% of Canadian contact lens wearers agree that having a sustainable, daily disposable contact lens would make them feel better about using daily disposable contact lenses.

“While net plastic neutrality is an unprecedented commitment in our industry, it is only one part of our holistic effort. We’ve built a strong foundation to make an impact today, while working on longer-term innovations to create even bigger change tomorrow,” said Brian Filan, Director of Marketing, Canada, CooperVision.

 Click HERE for the full press release.

On Earth Day and every day, CooperVision is acting to create a more sustainable world. The company’s first-of-its-kind plastic neutrality initiative has expanded to include additional countries in Europe and Latin America, and will soon launch in select Asian countries. Eye care professionals and contact lens wearers can now view the program’s collective impact—made possible by their partnership with the company—using the new CooperVision Impact Dashboard, which provides updates on how much plastic waste has been collected in collaboration with Plastic Bank^®.

Last year, CooperVision pioneered the world’s first plastic neutral contact lensesby funding Plastic Bank’s collection, processing and reuse of general ocean-bound plastic waste that is equal to the weight of the plastic contained in designated products in North America and Europe. As the program has grown, the company expects to prevent the equivalent of nearly 90 million plastic bottles from reaching Earth’s oceans in 2022.

“For CooperVision, plastic neutrality is about making a meaningful, measurable difference in partnership with eye care professionals and wearers. By simply prescribing and wearing our plastic neutral lenses, they’re making an impact. With our Impact Dashboard, everyone can see for themselves how these contributions quickly add up. It displays the eye-opening amount of ocean-bound plastic we’ve recovered to date and the local communities we’ve empowered—working together,” said Simon Seshadri, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing, CooperVision.

Beyond the positive impact on the environment, CooperVision’s plastic neutrality initiative enables Plastic Bank collectors in nearly 200 coastal communities to clean up their towns and villages while earning credits for necessities such as groceries, cooking fuel, school tuition, and health insurance. The Impact Dashboard also includes an interactive map of the communities impacted to date.

Click HERE for the full press release.

Sea2see announces its official certification as a carbon negative brand. By eliminating twice its carbon footprint, as a result of in-depth analysis by Dcycle, experts in life cycle analysis and sustainable transformation strategies, Sea2see has proven that the process of taking sustainable action to dramatically curb emissions and ultimately remove its carbon footprint altogether – twice over – is not just a pipe dream.

“We compensated our already low footprint by supporting and investing in renewable energy projects coordinated and certified by the UN,” explains François van den Abeele, Founder & CEO, Sea2see Eyewear. “Our investment and purchase of carbon credit has allowed us to become carbon negative. Specifically, we are supporting Mexico’s renewable energy ambition by harnessing wind energy to power 700,000 households. In addition to delivering emission reductions to help take urgent action to combat climate change (SDG 13), the project delivers a number of other sustainable development benefits including educational projects and initiatives for reforestation.”

“Our life cycle survey is a vertical analysis of all the steps from the waste collection to the delivery of the product to the final consumer. It highlights Sea2see’s low environment impact through the use of 100% recycled marine plastic compared to the use of Cellulose Acetate, TR90 and virgin nylon in the eyewear industry.” François van den Abeele, Founder & CEO, Sea2see

The analysis concludes that Sea2see “seastainable” optical glasses and sunglasses – made from recycled PA6 marine waste – are 86% less contaminating than Cellulose Acetate, 79% less contaminating than TR90 Grilamid frames and 61% less contaminating than Virgin Nylon 6 sunglasses. Virgin raw materials such as Cellulose Acetate, Grilamid and Nylon require manufacturing processes which are energy-intensive and translate to high CO2 emission and consumption of fossil fuels compared to recycled marine waste used by Sea2see.

Click HERE for the full press release.