Not only are wooden sunglasses great for the planet and the environment, but they’re also super fashionable and on-trend at the moment. We’re so excited that they’re making it in the fashion world!
The US is the largest consumer of sunglasses in the world, it’s estimated to be an almost 5 billion dollar industry, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. It’s mind blogging to think about many pair of plastic sunglasses are being thrown away each year.
Why wooden sunglasses are amazing
Reduce plastic
This is the most obvious but of course, we love it when we can reduce plastic that ends up wither in landfill or the ocean. By replacing plastic for wooden sunglasses, we’re saving the environment.
Renewable resource
Most commonly wooden sunglasses are made from bamboo. It’s such a sustainable and renewable resource. Bamboo is a fast-growing grass and is a more sustainable choice than wood (of course wood is so much better than plastic!).
Durability
Bamboo is three times stronger than timber, it even outperforms that strongest of timbers. Even more exciting, it seems to outperform plastics as well. We all know that sunglasses are notorious for breaking so being able to replace our plastic sunglasses for wooden sunglasses will help to prolong the life of the glasses.
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Bamboo floats
There’s nothing worse than losing your sunglasses in the water! With wooden sunglasses that’s not a problem because they float! This is groundbreaking and will, of course, reduce the need to replace sunglasses.
To help you sort through the world of wooden sunglasses, we’ve put a list together with our favorite (and the most ethical and sustainable) brands and online shops.
Woodies
Woodies is an Australian company that uses natural wood and plant materials to create fashionable eyewear. They use eco-friendly renewable plant materials including bamboo, zebrawood, ebony wood, walnut and rosewood.
Each pair of Woodies sunglasses is handmade and their lenses are composed of polarised polycarbonate. This provides you with UV 400 I protection from both UVA and UVB raise from the sun. Polarised lenses help block the bright glare and reflection from horizontal surfaces. This reduces visual fatigue and improves visual comfort.
Grown Sustainable Wooden Eyewear
Wooden sunglasses from Grown are handcrafted using FSC certified sustainable materials. Their sunglasses are handcrafted from bamboo and hardwood such as maple, ebony and walnut. All of their natural materials are organic, renewable and free from harmful or toxic chemicals. Like most wooden sunglasses, each pair is unique due to the grain of the wood or bamboo making no two pairs identical.
The entire range is also fitted with premium UV 400 polarised lenses for superior protection. Grown wooden sunglasses are also backed with 100-day warranty and 180-day accident coverage a first in the Sunglass industry.
For every purchase made through Grown, they will provide and the gift of life to 1 orphaned or injured Australian animal through Wires.
Earth Shade Sunglasses
Each pair of Earth Shade Sunglasses is handmade from bamboo or eco-friendly premium wood such as walnut, zebrawood, oak, and Rosewood. They come with polarised lenses with UV 400 protection to cut out the glare allowing you to see sharper detail and protect your eyes from the sun. With every pair, you receive a free bamboo case, microfibre pouch and cloth making it easy to care for your bamboo sunglasses.
Tribe Tree
Tribe Tree stocks handcrafted bamboo sunglasses. Bamboo is lightweight, strong and has a cool woodgrain appearance. Their sunglasses also have polarized lenses and stainless steel hinges. As mentioned earlier, bamboo is a natural eco-friendly sustainable renewable material. It grows much faster than trees require less water and can be re-harvested quicker.
With every purchase Tree Tribe plants one tree. They’ve currently planted 400,000 trees and are on a mission to plant over 1 million trees.
Tree Tribe also stocks a range of other ethical and sustainable products.
Shade Tree
Shade Tree was started to help reduce the burden on landfill in the US. It is estimated that Americans purchase over 3 million pairs of sunglasses and with 91% of those sunglasses being made from petroleum-based plastics, this contributes hugely to landfill.
The wooden sunglasses at shade tree are eco-friendly and 100% polarised. At first glance, some of their sunglasses appear like standard sunglasses but they’ve painted the wood black.
Bamboo Gorilla Sunglasses
Bamboo gorilla creates bamboo and wooden sunglasses in the classic Wayfarer style. They have a huge range to choose from and also have wooden blue light glasses available to help reduce the amount of blue light reaching your eyes.
Just as the other wooden sunglass companies have, Bamboo Gorilla sunglasses have polarised lens and are UV400 protection.
We hope that helps you make more conscious decisions when buying your next pair of wooden sunglasses.