What to do with those glasses after the eclipse

Maia Belay
·2 min read

GARFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio (WJW) — It’s the one accessory everyone was wearing April 8, but what should you do with eclipse glasses now that the party’s over?

A new effort is underway to take glasses used in greater Cleveland across the globe.

“We’re expecting to collect probably millions of glasses across the United States, and from Ohio we’re expecting at least tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands,” said Astronomers Without Borders Communications Manager Andrew Fazekas.

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Astronomers Without Borders is teaming up with Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District to collect, ship and re-use eclipse glasses for worldwide distribution.

“In [months], there’s going to be a solar eclipse through the southernmost part of South America, through Chile and Argentina,” said Fazekas. “We’re looking forward in time … into the coming four to six years, where we expect to be able to continue shipping them to amazing destinations around the world.”

The local partnership is thanks in part to Carin Miller, an education specialist at the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District who wanted to find a way to reuse the glasses when she learned about Astronomers without Borders collection efforts across the country.

Miller said eclipse glasses cannot be recycled in the weekly collection. If placed in the recycling bin, glasses would be sorted out and most likely end up in a landfill.

“Eclipse glasses are a mixed material. They have card stock and solar film so they are not curbside recyclable,” said Miller.

After the eclipse, Miller said people can drop off glasses at one of nearly 100 sites across Cuyahoga County. Collection boxes will be in place at several locations until April 21.

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“Recycling conserves resources, instead of making things new, or from virgin materials. It also keeps those materials out of the landfill where there’s finite space,” said Miller.

Eclipse glasses used locally will soon to be shipped around the world, connecting people through space and time, Fazekas said.

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