Girls Who Wear Glasses

I've been wearing thick, heavy "Coke bottle" glasses for almost as long as I can remember, since I am blind-as-a-bat without them. (Thank you, being born almost two months early. I didn't need that extra gestation time to develop eyesight, anyway.) Since I have a short nose and high, wide cheekbones, thick glasses tend to fog up on me in humid climates. Or in summertime. Or when I exercise. Or when I breathe.

It's annoying and since seventh grade or so, I've mostly worn contacts because I hate wearing my glasses. Unfortunately, during both of my pregnancies my eyes have been very fickle about contact lenses so I ended up wearing and despising my glasses more often. As the parents among you might know, grabby babies can wreak havoc upon unsuspecting eyewear. Only mine tend to cost at least $400 to replace, so I am embarrassingly likely to wear a one-armed pair for as long as humanly possibly before buying new ones.



Luckily, I was given an opportunity to try new Airwear eyeglass lenses by Essilor. Obviously, I was excited! Not only are they supposed to be lighter and more durable than traditional plastic lenses, but they are also produced using environmentally conscious manufacturing practices. Kind of a no-brainer that I would want to test them out.

Essilor is the number one provider worldwide of corrective lenses and Airwear polycarbonate lenses are 43 percent lighter and 10 times more impact-resistant than standard plastic lenses. They also provide 100 percent UV protection. In addition, Airwear lenses are the first Essilor lens material to go green, significantly reducing its environmental footprint by implementing responsible manufacturing, including:

Packaging: Essilor uses 100 percent recyclable cardboard made from 100 percent recyclable wooden fibers for Airwear lenses, helping to eliminate 570,000 pounds of plastic waste every year.

Water Consumption: Essilor uses 100 percent recycled water for Airwear lenses, cutting consumption in half and conserving millions of gallons of water.

Recycling Excess Material: Airwear re-purposes unused materials for other industries, such as automobiles and writing instruments.

Donating Eyewear: Essilor supports Lions Club International's Recycle for Sight program, which accepts old, usable glasses and donates them to those in need.

The first two pairs of frames I sent to Airwear were apparently substandard. One pair I had bought at a thrift store, kind of old man chic, but the other were fairly contemporary. I had them both in my prescription at one time or another. Oh, well. Airwear sent them both back to me, along with a brand spanking new pair of glasses- frames and all!




They're pretty cute, right? I must say that they are VERY lightweight and seem scratch resistant, having been dropped a couple of times already. I also think that the new Airwear lenses are more glare-resistant at night than other glasses I have owned, although their website doesn't mention that as a feature. So far I am very impressed and might even contemplate wearing my Airwear specs in public. High praise, indeed.

Learn more about Airwear's dedication to taking care of our planet and ways to encourage and inspire your family to be more environmentally conscious with easy and everyday ways to create a green routine at www.LighterSaferGreener.com.

Disclosure: I received the glasses pictured (including complimentary Airwear eyeglass lenses in my prescription) courtesy of Mom Central and Essilor.