What we take
Eyeglasses
Approximately 75% of us use some form of vision correction. Many people wear glasses, either regularly or occasionally for things like reading. If you include sunglasses, the number may even reach 100%. Despite all of those glasses-wearers among us, few people know what can happen to an old pair once you are through with them.
We’ve learned that all kinds of glasses can be donated to local partners who will distribute them to people in need throughout the world.
About our partners
How we keep your Eyeglasses out of landfills.
We partner directly with innovators who transform hard-to-recycle materials into new products—so you can see exactly where your items go and what they become.
Featured Partner
Bellingham Central Lions Club
The Bellingham Central Lions Club was founded in 1923 and has served the people of Bellingham and Whatcom County with pride and distinction in the decades since. Like Lions the world over, their causes include the eradication of preventable blindness and deafness. They do this in the international arena through LCIF, the Lions Club International Foundation, investing hundreds of millions of dollars fighting river blindness and other preventable diseases. They collect and recycle used eyeglasses, operating thousands of clinics annually wherever the need may take them. Here, at home in Bellingham, they provide free vision and hearing exams, and eyeglasses and hearing aids to those in need.
Featured Partner
Austin Founder Lions Club
The Austin Founder Lions Club is the oldest continuously operating Lions Club in the world. Since 1916, this club has been serving the Austin community including the collection and recycling of used eyeglasses.
When the Austin Founder Lions Club receives used eyeglasses, they are gathered and taken to the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. There, students at the school prepare them for shipment to the Texas Eyeglass Recycling Center in Midland Texas. At that facility, trained volunteers will clean and sort the eyeglasses by prescription. Glasses that are not suitable for reuse are recycled for scrap, with the earnings benefiting local Lions projects. The eyeglasses are then made available at no cost to humanitarian organizations for qualified overseas medical missions to dispense eyeglasses to people that need them.
Featured Partner
Lions in Sight
The Lions in Sight of California and Nevada has been working to help the blind and visually impaired since 1991. They operate a regional facility where Lions volunteers clean, repair, and classify the glasses by prescription. For years, individual Lions clubs and districts have collected old, unwanted eyeglasses for redistribution to the poor in developing countries. Glasses collected by Ridwell will be classified as reuse or recycled by the Lions in Sight volunteers. All hearing aids will be sent to Ear of the Lion Foundation, reconditioned, and given to low-income families in need.
Featured Partner
Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation
Since 1959, the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation (OLSHF) has taken a crucial role in protecting the health of Oregonians. Through programs related to sight, hearing and health assistance, they have helped to transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of youths and adults. OLSHF offers access and critical health solutions to the most vulnerable members of the Oregon community who are uninsured, underinsured or underserved, particularly where geography, language or cultural barriers may present challenges to accessing preventative care and follow up.
In partnership with the Lions of Oregon, who directly provide communities with resources and education, OLSHF provides access to surgeries, treatment, screening, exams, eyeglasses, hearing aids, and more to Oregonians in need.
Featured Partner
Lion’s Club of Denver
The Denver Lions Foundation supports the service provided by the members of the Lion's Club of Denver. They raise funds from members, both directly and through bequests, and receive donations from other charitable organizations. Denver Lions make a meaningful impact in the lives of over 100,000 people every year.
The Lions Recycle for Sight program is the Denver Den's name for the famous eyeglass collection service that Lions Clubs International has organized for over 30 years. They collect used eyeglasses which are taken to facilities where they are cleaned and sorted by prescription strength, size, etc. They are then made available to humanitarian organizations who provide eyeglasses and sunglasses to underserved populations.
Collected hearing aids are sent to The Marion Downs Center, a local non-profit organization. Hearing aids are reconditioned and distributed to those in need.
Featured Partner
Northwest Lions
Millions of people throughout the world are suffering without vision correction. Some could lack the means to travel distances to an eye care professional. Others may not face that challenge, but do not have enough money to pay for eyeglasses. That is the need served by Northwest Lions, an all-volunteer organization located near Olympia.
Northwest Lions has processed over 2.2 million pairs since starting out in 2004 and a recent visit showed us why they have been so successful. All pairs that arrive to the Northwest Lions facility are inspected, cleaned, and sorted. Next, a process matches groups of different kinds of glasses with groups in need both at home and abroad. Any pairs not matched will be recycled through a domestic partner who will make sure the glass and metal are turned into new things and not sent to landfills.
