Where's a _good_ place to which I can donate glasses?

August 11, 2021 11:38 AM

Where's a _good_ place to which I can donate glasses?

I've got a stack of old glasses that aren't close to my current prescription. What's a good place to do that (ie, socially good/non-profit)? Bonus points if they're local to the Pioneer Valley in western Mass.

posted by plinth to Society & Culture (3 answers total)

We take our old glasses to our eye doctor's office, and they donate them to the Lion's Club. Here's one local to that area: Granby Lion's Club. My understanding is they match up the donated eyeglass prescriptions with people who can use them. The Granby chapter has a summary of the issues their organization engages with.
posted by malthusan at 12:04 PM on August 11, 2021 [2 favorites]

Your local Lions club will take them and get them to people who can use them.
posted by Uncle at 12:05 PM on August 11, 2021 [3 favorites]

Best answer: FWIW, most donated eyeglasses will get recycled rather than reused. You might want to check out this article that talks about what kinds of glasses can and cannot be reused intact, and what's a typical percentage of donated glasses that can be reused (spoiler: it's 7%): Real Cost of Donated Spectacles.

In general eyeglasses can't be reused if they have:
- progressive lenses;
- lenses with noticeable scratches or flakes;
- damaged frames;
- >0.75 D cylinder power;
- >0.5 D anisometropia (i.e. difference between the prescription in the two eyes); or
- >0.5 Δ of differential vertical prism.

So if any of these describes your prescription, your glasses will almost certainly be recycled or trashed, and you can feel OK about just putting them in the recycling or trash yourself or using them to make art or whatever.
posted by mskyle at 12:28 PM on August 11, 2021 [7 favorites]