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As summer approaches, it’s time to get prepared and find the perfect pair of sustainable sunglasses.
A good pair of sunglasses is essential — both for your eye health, and as a way to complete your outfit.
Traditionally, sunglasses were made from plastics, and non-sustainable materials like plastics, and acetate made from petroleum derivatives.
Luckily, there are innovative, eco-friendly sunglasses brands pushing the boundaries on what’s possible.
They combine eco-friendly and sustainable materials with modern, versatile styles.
In this guide, we’ve collected some of our favorites for you.
Let’s take a look.
Our Favorite Sustainable Sunglasses Brands
1. Colorful Standard
Sustainability: Biodegradable, fully compostable sunglasses, created from renewable, plant-based materials. Striving for zero waste through sustainable production techniques.
Price: $115 per pair
At a glance: 15 chic styles in 24 colors. UV400 protection lenses keep your eyes safe while looking stylish.
Prescription lenses available? No
Polarized lenses available? No
Colorful Standard has a unique sunglasses range to suit every style. The hardest part will be picking your favorite from their impressive collection, with over 300 pairs to choose from.
Crafted from plant-based materials such as cellulose acetate and wood (all FSC certified), their sunglasses are 100% biodegradable and built to last.
They produce their sunglasses in Portugal, and ensure their workers are paid a fair wage and have safe working conditions.
2. Sunski
Sustainability: Recycled materials, certified carbon neutral company, member of 1% For The Planet
Price: from $58
At a glance: One of the original eco-friendly polarized sunglasses brands, making all of their frames from recycled materials. Each pair comes with a lifetime warranty.
Prescription lenses available? No
Polarized lenses available? Yes
Sunski make polarized sunglasses from recycled materials reclaimed from landfill. The brand uses no plastic packaging, and is a member of 1% For The Planet — to date, they’ve donated over $150,000 to environmental causes.
Sunski also offer a lifetime warranty and will fix your sunglasses if anything ever happens to them.
We also love that Sunski are a carbon neutral company, offsetting emissions created in their sunglasses production process.
Sunski’s shades come in a variety of frames and sizes, and there’s a virtual try-on system to preview how they’ll look on your face.
3. Proof Eyewear
Sustainability: Handcrafted eyewear from FSC-Certified wood, cotton-based acetate, recycled aluminum, and re-purposed skateboard decks, $10 from each purchase goes to a Do Good program that gives back to local and global projects
Price: $$
At a glance: Wide range of handcrafted sunglasses from sustainable materials.
Prescription lenses available? No
Polarized lenses available? No
Proof Eyewear was founded in 2021 by 3 brothers out of a desire to create an eco-friendly product that could contribute and give back to causes that matter.
Today, the brand creates a wide variety of sunglasses from sustainable, biodegradable, and recycled materials.
The brand also donates part of its profits to ethical causes every year.
4. SWWAY
Sustainability: Climate Neutral Certified, Certified B Corp, member of 1% For The Planet. Biodegradable glasses, recycling program
Price: $ – $$
At a glance: Sustainable and ethical sunglasses in a range of classic and modern styles, coming in at an affordable price.
Prescription lenses available? No
Polarized lenses available? No
Swway’s( formerly Pela Vision) sunglasses are stylish, coming in a variety of classic and modern styles and colors.
But, that’s not the best part. The sunglasses are completely biodegradable, free of traditional metal bits and hinges. If they go to landfill, they’ll completely disappear.
If you’re looking to switch from plastic sunglasses to a new pair of SWWAY’s, you can send your old glasses back as part of their recycling program and they’ll ensure they get recycled and reused.
The company is constantly pushing their limits to implement new sustainability initiatives, such as opening local distribution centers to reduce overseas shipping, and offsetting their entire carbon footprint with carbon credits. They also donate a percentage of every sale to ocean cleanup programs.
5. PALA
Sustainability: B Corp certified, ethical brand supporting eye-care brands in Africa, recycled acetate styles from factory offcuts.
Price: $$
At a glance: Ethical and sustainable brand. A wide range of on trend styles and colour choices available.
Prescription lenses available? No
Polarized lenses available? Yes
For every pair of PALA sunglasses sold, they give back to initiatives in Africa which are supporting vision centers and screening programs to ensure people get the correct care for vision impairments.
PALA is ensuring they aren’t damaging the planet by using recycled material from factory off-cuts and replacing plastic by using bio-acetate on their frames.
Bio-acetate is a plant-based, biodegradable material t hat reduces the sunglasses industry’s reliance on non-renewable resources.
6. MITA
Sustainability: Eyewear made from recycled plastic bottles
Price: $$
At a glance: Cool lightweight styles, sunglasses and optical ranges.
Prescription lenses available? No
Polarized lenses available? No
MITA’s glasses are made from 5 recycled plastic water bottles — it’s a simple concept that we’re a big fan of.
Their lenses are biodegradable, and their sunglasses offer 100% UVA/UVB protection.
MITA has a range of both mens and women sunglasses styles, and there are plenty of colour and style selections to choose from.
7. ECO
Sustainability: Recycled material, bio-based sunglasses.
Price: $$
At a glance: Sunglasses, optical frames and clip ons.
Prescription lenses available? No
Polarized lenses available? Yes
Eco craft their sunglasses from sustainable castor seed oil, making this a sustainable alternative to harmful plastics.
Their metal frames are made from 95% recycled materials.
The brand also has an Eco Ocean range, where all frames are made from recycled ocean-based plastics.
The brand also plants a tree for every frame sold, which is a great initiative.
8. FreshForPandas
Sustainability: Eyewear made from sustainably sourced wood and bamboo.
Price: $$
At a glance: Prescription sunglasses available. Fresh eco-friendly eyewear men and women styles available.
Prescription lenses available? Yes, prescription sunglasses available
Polarized lenses available? No
FreshForPandas is a forward-thinking eyewear brand changing the way they create their sunglasses and optical glasses to ensure they are more sustainable.
Their frames are all made sustainably sourced wood from certified FSC sources, and bamboo (from non-GM sources).
Their alternative to plastics is to use cellulose-based bio acetate, which is completely biodegradable!
They ship all of their sunglasses carbon-neutral in plastic-free packaging.
9. Bird
Sustainability: Certified B Corp company, recycled materials, including wood and metals, bio-based acetate and renewable cork.
Price: $$
At a glance: Cool styles, recycled and biomaterials. Giving back through the Share a Sun program.
Prescription lenses available? Yes, prescription lenses available
Polarized lenses available? No
Birds are creating modern sleek sunglasses with sustainability at the forefront of everything they do.
The frames are made from recycled aluminium, sustainable wood, and renewable cork. They also use the popular bio-based acetate as a alternative to plastic, using real leaves to sculpt some of their styles like their Pluma pair pictured.
They are driving the Share a Sun initiative, in partnership with Solar Aid, which helps to distribute solar electricity to families in Malawi and Zambia as an alternative to fossil fuel sources.
10. Stella McCartney
Sustainability: Bio acetate, over 50% of materials are recycled.
Price: $$$
At a glance: Chic shades, bold chunky frame styles.
Prescription lenses available? No
Polarized lenses available? No
Perhaps not as sustainable as some of the other brands featured here, Stella McCartney are still changing the industry, recognising their impact and pushing for sustainability.
The materials they use are now at least 50% recycled. They are using bio-acetate for their sunglasses.
As you may know already, Stella McCartney are a completely vegan, cruelty-free brand.
Their styles are big, bold, and super cool.
11. Peep Eyewear
Sustainability: vintage sunglasses repurposed with new frames
Price: from £60
At a glance: Unique vintage sunglasses frames recycled into new sustainable sunglasses
Prescription lenses available? Yes
Polarized lenses available? Yes
Peep Eyewear is a refreshingly different sunglasses brand that’s taking a different approach to sustainable eyewear. The brand sources cool vintage frames and refresh them with new lenses that offer 100% UV protection.
In addition to offering UV protection lenses, Peep also allows you to customize your lenses by adding prescription lenses or polarized lenses.
Choosing vintage sunglasses is a great way to prevent frames from going to landfills and get a cool pair of shades you won’t see on anyone else.
12. LaBante
Sustainability: Cruelty free, PVP free, Sweatshop free
Price: $
At a glance: Sunglasses with a cool wood finish.
Prescription lenses available? No
Polarized lenses available? No
A smaller selection of styles than other brands featured here, but by no means any less worth your attention.
LaBante is committed to being vegan, cruelty-free, ethical, and sustainable.
They ensure workers are paid a living wage and are avoid using any factory with a history of bad labor practices.
13. Warby Parker
Sustainability: For every pair bought, a pair is donated to someone in need. Responsibly sourced materials, recycled packaging.
Price: from $95
At a glance: High quality eco sunglasses available in mens and women styles
Prescription lenses available? Yes, prescription lenses available
Polarized lenses available? No
Warby Parker hosts an impressive collection of high-quality, sustainable sunglasses with over 50 styles on offer. They use cellulose acetate – an eco-friendly alternative to acetate – for their frames and responsibly source materials such as titanium and bronze.
Every year, they publish a detailed impact report, which specifies the sustainable initiatives they are working on and their environmental impact, such as CO2 emissions and percent of recycled input materials used in manufacturing. As a brand, Warby Parker strives to reduce its environmental impact and be more sustainable by offsetting its carbon emissions by donating to environmental programs.
14. Bonnie Clyde®
Sustainability: Eco-friendly materials, including cellulose acetate. Ethical production with workers paid a fair wage.
Price: from $148
At a glance: Premium Italian plant-based cellulose acetate sunglasses in unisex styles
Are prescription lenses available? No, but the brand creates optical-friendly sunglasses.
Are polarized lenses available? No
Bonnie Clyde® is a trendy sunglasses brand based in downtown LA, California. Founded by designer Jon Yuan and his brother Jeff, inspired by their families’ small optician business, the two brothers formed the brand to honor their family name.
The brand creates stylish, sustainable sunglasses with a trendy twist. Each pair is ethically made from premium materials, including cellulose acetate frames and high-quality nylon lenses that offer 100% protection from UVA/UVB rays.
The brand offers free shipping and returns on all US orders.
Also available to shop in the UK from End.com.
15. Waterhaul
Sustainability: Sunglasses from recycled ocean plastic, lifetime warranty, glasses recycling program
Price: from £60
At a glance: Sunglasses and optical frames created from 100% recycled plastic trawl nets recovered from the ocean
Are prescription lenses available? Yes
Polarized lenses available? No
Waterhaul is a UK-based sustainable sunglasses brand creating frames from recycled ocean plastic. What sets the brand apart is that the Waterhaul team directly recovers ocean plastic from beaches across the UK.
Waterhaul offers a lifetime warranty on its frames, so you’re set for life with your pair of recycled sunglasses. Plus, Waterhaul will recycle any damaged frames into new glasses, closing the loop and preventing waste to landfills.
You should also check out the incredible initiatives the brand supports, including beach clean-ups, hands-on workshops, and education resources.
Wrapping Up: Sustainable Sunglasses
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our recommendations for the best sustainable sunglasses.
Make sure you get summer ready by checking out our guides on sustainable swimwear and sustainable sandals, you can thank us later.
If you have any feedback, let us know in the comments below.
