Done with your eclipse glasses? Here's how to donate or recycle them

Following the widespread enthusiasm for Monday’s total solar eclipse, plenty of people may be wondering what to do with the special glasses they used to observe it.

And now, a few local groups are promoting collections to donate and recycle them for future use elsewhere around the world.

“Instead of just throwing them out, they’re recycled, and they’ll be able to be distributed to kids who wouldn’t have access to them,” said Lisa Skotcher, deputy treasurer and event coordinator for Fort Gratiot.

She’s collecting residents’ eclipse glasses until May 1 at the township hall, 3720 Keewahdin Road. Afterward, she said she planned to send them to an outfit collecting glasses in hopes of helping students in Argentina experience an eclipse later this year.

“So, if people want to drop them off here, I will take those and mail those out,” Skotcher said.

Local groups and residents have shared similar options on social media just a day after Monday’s eclipse.

On Tuesday, Friends of the St. Clair River promoted the donation program through Eclipse Glasses USA on Facebook. In its post, the organization also jokingly encouraged residents to hang on to their glasses for the next eclipse to pass over the U.S. — another coast-to-coast experience set for 2044.

“We were just trying to share information to people because you can imagine a large volume of glasses with this one-type use thing," said Executive Director Sheri Faust. "I think it’s neat that these things just immediately popped up right away.”

She said they throught it'd be cool to help people find a way to repurpose or recycle their glasses.

But Faust cautioned that "they have to be in good condition," the "lens surface can't be scratched," and that some glasses have a lifespan that users should double check before keeping.

Others like North Street United Methodist Church, 4580 North Street Road, also advertised putting out a collection box on their porch for eclipse glasses in advance of a blood drive that was set for Tuesday. The collection box was expected to remain on the church's porch until April 17.

Those looking to mail in eclipse glasses on their own could send them to Eclipse Glasses USA, LLC, at PO Box 50571, Provo, UT 84605.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Done with your eclipse glasses? Donate or recycle them