Lighter Safer Greener

Lighter-Safer-Greener

More than 150 million Americans use corrective eyewear, so why not select an eco-friendly option to see the world through greener "lenses"? Airwear® lenses provide a unique combination of benefits for active lifestyles through superior comfort and performance; and they are quite a "green" option. As the first Essilor material (what the lenses are made of) to go green by significantly reducing its environmental footprint by implementing responsible manufacturing--it's now lighter, safer and greener than ever before.

o Packaging: New Airwear® packaging uses 100% recyclable cardboard made form 100% wooden fibers that are recyclable. This packaging change is helping reduce Airwear®’s environmental footprint by eliminating 570,000 pounds of plastic waste every year-from US airwear products alone (from airwear research). Normally lenses come in a cardboard box with the lenses in a plastic cup, which looks like a hockey puck. By removing the plastic and going with a cardboard option, Airwear® is the first lens company anywhere in the world to use this type of packaging.
o Water Consumption: All Airwear® lenses are manufactured using 100 percent recycled water, cutting water consumption in half and conserving millions of gallons of water.
o Waste Recycling: Waste produced from Airwear® lenses will be put to use in other industries, such as automobiles and writing instruments.
o Eyewear Donation: Rather than throwing old lenses away, Airwear®, in partnership with the Lions Club, will accept glasses and donate them to those in need. Check your local Lions Club Web site for more information on to donate. ** It's estimated that most people get new eyeglasses every year or two, so why not just repurpose them?

ASK YOUR eyecare professional for Airwear® lenses in your next pair of perscription glasses!
Visit the Lighter, Safer, Greener Airwear® site to find out more and to read some of my green mom eco-tips!

Bye Bye Bottle

This may be worse than we thought
Reusable plastic bottles leach BPA at room temperature


A lot of people have those reusable polycarbonate water bottles; you can’t go to a college campus these days without seeing students carrying these multi-hued bottles around as they make their way through classes.

Well, a couple weeks back researchers at the University of Cincinnati released a startling new study showing that many of these bottles leach bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor, into water that is being stored within the container.

These researchers found that these plastic bottles leach BPA into room-temperature water. That’s bad enough, but if boiling water is put into these bottles, the rate of BPA leaching goes up by quite a bit.

All the evidence out there tells us that this stuff is not good for you; Environmental Working G roup tested canned foods recently, which are lined with the same BPA plastic as these water bottles are made from. As it turns out, foods from metal cans contain significantly more of the chemical than water from bottles.

I applaud the use of reusable water bottles to cut down on the environmental impact of bottled water, but with this new research, stainless steel and metal water bottles are looking better and better. Some have a plastic lining, but Klean Kanteen and Sigg makes metal water bottles that are BPA free.

Parents who are concerned about baby’s plastic bottles should know that although this study didn’t look at baby bottles, it studied the same type of plastic. At this point, there’s enough research out there to justify the added expense of buying BPA-free or glass bottles. But an even more critical step would be to substitute powdered formula for liquid formula if your baby isn’t drinking breast milk. Babies don’t need to be getting extra endocrine disruptors in any form.

Back to the drinking fountain, I guess!