Eyeglass Recycling

THE NEED FOR GLASSES –153 Million Reasons Lions Recycle for Sight

Please note - do not put glass cases in the collection box (unless they are designer brands, because we can recycle those!)

Malahide Lions Club would like to thank all those who support them in their collection of used spectacles. While our main collection box is located in Swords Pavilions, McNally Opticians, Main Street, Malahide and Avis/Budget Car Rental located at the Airport also help by recycling all of their unused specs.
The Malahide project is managed by an active subcommittee who in turn empty the collection box located in Swords Pavilion. Those are then prepared for shipment via DPD, who transport them free of charge to Lions Eyeglass Recycling Hub in France. All spectacles are then cleaned, sorted by prescription and repackaged before being sent to developing countries where they have the greatest impact.
Since May 2023 roughly 7,000 spectacles have been recycled from the above collection points alone, an unbelievable figure and comforting to know that so many people enjoy better sight today because of this. We could even go as far as saying, perhaps a child can now see a blackboard or a young person passed a driving test, both, life changing moments and all because you put your old spectacles in a collection box plus the fact that all those spectacles having been saved from landfill, our planet has also benefited.

674 pairs of spectacles ready for shipping - November 2023

According to The World Health Organization, 153 million people have uncorrected refractive errors (near-sightedness, far-sightedness or astigmatism). Most of these vision impairments are quickly diagnosed and easy to treat with corrective lenses.

Still, millions of people in developing nations are pushed deeper into poverty simply because they don't have glasses. They can't learn, because reading is difficult. They can't work to the best of their ability, because they can't see clearly.

It costs Lions less than US$0.08 to provide a pair of recycled eyeglasses and change someone's life.
For children, clear vision means a better education, healthier development and a better quality of life. For adults, it means greater employment opportunity and economic strength. For seniors it means less dependence on others.
Lions clubs collect millions of eyeglasses each year to address the need for glasses, making eyeglass recycling one of our most popular activities.

That's why Lions International started the Lions Recycle for Sight program. Everyone can help.

Nearest collection point
Pavilions Shopping Centre
(at the bottom of the main escalator)

Where can you drop off your used spectacles?
A spectacles collection box has been placed beside the elevator on the ground floor of the Pavilions Shopping Centre, Swords. The brainchild of Malahide Lion Gerry O'Carroll, the Malahide and Swords Lions Clubs approached Swords Men's Shed (SMS) who willingly undertook to produce the box, made by their members Patrick Haughton, Matthew Graham and Ken Cullen. The Lions enlisted the help of Joe O'Donnell (Pavilions) to get permission to locate it in the Centre.

Look for our poster on the wall.

See also:
The Lions Clubs International Foundation webpage on Sight programmes ... read more

Help From Car Hire Companies

Avis and Europcar are helping out and donating glasses left behind in rental cars. We would like to thank the team at Avis for collecting 120 pairs of spectacles.

Spectacle collection from Lisa in Avis - November 2023

and don't forget World Sight Day ..
.. look after YOUR eyes!