GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — This week, millions of people stepped outside to watch the solar eclipse. If you still have your protective eyewear laying around the house, don’t toss them in the trash. Instead, you can recycle them. Or better yet, donate them.
The next total solar eclipse in the United States with a coast-to-coast path isn’t set to take place until 2045. However, a partial eclipse will be visible over South America this October.
For people who don’t want to save their glasses for over 20 years, two Kent County organizations are helping to redistribute hundreds, if not thousands, of eclipse glasses to those who will see the next eclipse.
“Recycling is really important to us over at East Grand Rapids, at this branch,” said Ashten VanDerploeg, Regional Manager In-Training for Kent District Libaries. “We thought, well, why not recycle them here? And then the idea just kind of spiraled out into (Kent District Library) … and as a system we thought it was really important to give back to the community.”
Up until April 22, which is Earth Day, all KDL locations will be accepting eclipse glasses. People can either place them in the bins provided or hand them to a staff member.
“After that, we will be sending them off to Eclipse Glasses USA where they will be given to students in Latin America so they can see the eclipse in October 2024,” said VanDerploeg.
If you decide not to donate or your glasses are too damaged to pass on, leaders with the Kent County Department of Public Works are also urging people to recycle their glasses. However, there’s a few more steps before putting them in your recycling bin and out by the road.
“If you have curbside collection and want to recycle your eclipse glasses, all you need to do is pop out the lens, recycle the cardboard, that can all come to our facility, and we will make sure (the lens) gets properly recycled,” explained Steve Faber, Kent County Department of Public Works Communications & Marketing Manager. “Anything that goes into a recycling bin ultimately prevents it from going into a landfill or being disposed of improperly. Recycling is a really important part of keeping products and expanding their lives, really.”
