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GREEN OPTICS – EDUCATIONAL AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

They were originally made of glass, but didn’t really lend themselves to comfort, and as such never really became particularly popular. This all changed with the advent of plastics. The first polymer to be utilized as a direct corneal lens was poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), which had several advantages over glass. The industrial production and trade of ophthalmic lenses is a very important business worldwide, so we have invested heavily in the research and development of new techniques, products and materials, in order to innovate and take full advantage of its potential. Following this development is obviously the increase in production which is also due to the increasing number of users of ophthalmic lenses. The materials used by this industry as the raw material for its products are essentially organic (plastic) materials, consisting of synthetic polymers. Since these wastes are high quality plastic materials with a wide range of uses, consideration should be given to their reuse, particularly at a time when environmental policies in the area of waste were strengthened, giving priority to the recovery of materials to the detriment of their disposal (DECREE-LAW n.o 178/2006 , «DR. I Serie», 171, 6525-6531). It is estimated that there are 4 million ophthalmic lenses in Portugal on average each wearer changes lenses every 3 years and that the largest European producers of ophthalmic lenses have factories in Portugal, it seems It is important to know the amount of waste produced by this activity and the processes of recovery to which these residues can be subjected. It is estimated that in 2017, of the Croatian population (4 154 million inhabitants), 2% used lenses, that is 83 080 thousand and 15% used glasses, that is 623 100 thousand. This work has as main objectives to compare waste habits between Portugal and Croatia, investigate the impact of optical waste (economic, environmental and social), raise awareness for a greater responsibility for a correct waste management and give proposals of improvement to reduce this waste. For the accomplishment of this article, questionnaires about Green Optics were used, both for the Portuguese population and for the Croatian population. For participants from Portugal, the questionnaire was launched online through Google Forms while the Croatian participants answered the questionnaire on paper. In all, 418 responses were collected (209 from Portuguese and 209 from Croatians). The recived results shows some important details: the disposal of optical residues in the two countries we can observe some differences whose environmental impact may be significant. In Croatia most people responded that they put the lenses out of use in the recycling bin, although most first said that they did not know what material they were made from, and in Portugal most people responded that they put them in the undifferentiated garbage. Comparing the two countries, we conclude that in Croatia people are more aware of their waste and put their optical waste in the recycling bin, which will always be a better option than the undifferentiated garbage, as most Portuguese say. The second option of deposition of this waste was the toilet in both countries and this attitude is quite wrong because the contact lenses are not destroyed in the sewage networks and end up in the ocean, damaging the sea life. Despite the small size and part of its constitution being water, the lenses do not dissolve completely, and the wastewater treatment plants do not have the capacity to eliminate them. These resist during the treatment of the waters and become part of the sewers and everything that is in the sewers can return, through the rains, to the superficial waters, and from there go to the ocean, increasing the environmental damage already caused by the pollution by microplastics. This project has continued development in Croatia true different art workshop. Last year we recived also National Geographic Croatia reward for the best sustainable development project in the category Sustainable production and consumption.

green optics, sustainable development, waste, re use, recycling, National Geographic, PMMA

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