Contact lens houston,Lasik surgery

Contact lens on a finger

A recent article by the Daily Mail online, which is arguably the largest online news website outlet in the world, reported that more than 780 million used plastic contact lenses are disposed of in the United Kingdom each year; however, 97% of those are either thrown in the trash or flushed away rather than being recycled.

What does this mean?  More than 750 million lenses end up either in landfill sites, incinerators or sewers — where they have can form plastic pollution.

A study by contact lens and eye surgery provider Optical Express found that 1 in 4 people in their massive UK survey either threw their lenses down the drain or into the toilet.

As many of us are now more environmentally aware this actually poses a global crisis as microplastic particles (which make up contact lenses and are made as plastic slowly degrades) pollute our oceans and our rivers and have the unfortunate potential to endanger our marine life.

We now are starting to fully understand the impact our decisions and actions have on our planet and as consumers we absolutely have a choice.  We should really say no to plastic.

The article in the Daily Mail goes on to explain how laser eye surgery would be a huge remedy to this crisis. If the 4.2 million UK contact lens wearers chose to have laser eye surgery, how much pollution could we avoid and how much marine life would stay unharmed?

What the article does not go into depth on is how many contact lens wearers there are in the United States…can you imagine the implications of this?

It is estimated that there are 125 million contact lens users worldwide, which absolutely makes this a global crisis which would need action on a very massive scale.

There are currently billions of contact lenses that are polluting our environment and we at Slade & Baker plan to take a stand. Our first step in this plan is to build awareness by sharing this blog article with you, so our patients and followers can take a good look at the implications of this and spread the word.

If you have thought about the environmental implications of contact lens use and have debated whether laser eye surgery may be for you, we are here to let you know that screenings are complimentary at our practice!

Patients can have a free screening to determine if they are candidates for laser eye surgery and if we can help hundreds get out of contacts, then we are doing our part!  Call us today at 713-626-5544 if this article has had any impact on you and your desire to help your vision and the environment!