Hasta La Ideas

Reader Judy submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

I have old unused contact lenses. Can they be recycled in any way? Or should they just be thrown away?

Unused, still packaged contact lenses aren’t able to be donated to charity in the same way you might donate clothes to Goodwill or a car to the Salvation Army. Nor can they be taken to your local recycling center. If they aren’t past their expiration date, you can return them to your eye doctor. Your eye doctor will probably then send them back to the supplier, who will either recycle the materials or dispose of them based on their standard procedures. Your eye doctor may even refund your money … but don’t count on it. If you order your contact lenses online and not through your doctor’s office, it will be more hassle (and environmentally damaging) to send them back to the online company.

Contact lenses that have passed their expiration date and used lenses need to be disposed of according to their manufacturer’s instructions. If you no longer have the external packaging material, hop onto the company website to learn this information.

The plastic containers your contact lenses came in are easily recyclable, however. Just make sure that your local recycling facility works with the type of plastic numbered on the container before dropping them off at the recycling center.

Since we’re talking about prescription eyewear, I wanted to mention the Lions Club eyeglasses recycling program. If you don’t have a local Lions Club, you can mail your old glasses to:

Lions Clubs International Headquarters
Attention: Receiving Department
300 W. 22nd Street
Oak Brook, IL 60523, USA

Thank you, Judy, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column.

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