Earth Day

The 22nd April 2020 is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. The usual media focus on Earth Day has shifted understandably to the urgency of the COVID pandemic. But rather than displace the importance of Earth day the COVID crisis should remind us of our fragility, and refocus us on what is important, and what could be more important (and indeed fragile) than the natural world.

Over the last year Eyeworks London has been making conscious steps to be a more environmentally responsible business. Our efforts have included small things like reusable water bottles for staff, 100% recyclable paper bags (btw most paper bags are laminated and not recyclable) and fairtrade reusable cotton bags.

We have introduced contact lens recycling points in the practice. The uptake to this has been huge and we are really encouraged that so many of our customers align with our environmental values. We have also for a number of years received old glasses on behalf of Vision Aid Overseas and continue to do so.

Eyeworks London has now become a paperless practice. We no longer print and record patient examinations on paper but instead securely record examinations on our computer systems. With over 10,000 patients this has major impact on our paper and ink consumption.

Finally we buy into the Slow Fashion movement by sourcing eyewear for quality and longevity. It encourages slower production schedules, fairer wages and because 80% of our eyewear collection is made in Europe, a reduced carbon footprint.