The Best Eco-Friendly Sunglasses In The UK In 2024

In need of a new pair of sunglasses? Here’s my guide to the best eco-friendly sunglasses for 2023 – including the brands made from recycled materials, and those made of renewable resources.

When the sun has its hat on, there are a few things I always do. Firstly, I slap on some eco-friendly sunscreen, then pack my sustainable beach bag, and finally pop on some sunglasses before heading outdoors.

However, forget the plastic frames. Sunglasses have come a long way. Now you can find eco-friendly sunglasses made from recycled materials or made from renewable resources. Some sunglasses brands even offer closed-loop recycling schemes for when your sunglasses bite the dust.

What To Look For When Shopping For Sustainable Sunglasses

There have been a lot of sustainable innovations when it comes to sunglasses. To help you out here are the key things to look for when shopping for new ethical sunglasses:

Bio-Acetate

Glasses frames are generally made from a lightweight yet hard-wearing material called cellulose acetate. This is made from a mix of cotton and/or wood pulp and plastic derived from petroleum-based sources.

Many brands are moving away from traditional cellulose acetate for their frames and switching to a material called bio-acetate. Here, petroleum-based plastic is replaced with renewable plant oils, such as castor seed oil. This makes a more eco-friendly sunglasses frame, with all the same properties that cellulose acetate has, but without the fossil fuel input.

It’s important to bear in mind that bio-acetate, whilst plant-based, is still a plastic. It is considered biodegradable but it requires industrial composting facilities to do so.

Recycled Plastic

Bio-acetate sunglasses tend to come in at a higher price point. However, if you are looking for sustainable eye protection on a smaller budget then you can look for brands making their frames from recycled plastic. This helps you to stick with your sustainability credentials, without having to use virgin plastic.

Recycled Metal

Alongside recycled plastic, many sunglasses brands make either their frames and/or their metal components from recycled metal.

Guide To The Best Eco-Friendly Sunglasses

Now you know what to look out for, here are my top picks for sustainable sunnies:

• Bird Eyewear
• CHPO
• Grech & Co
• Waterhaul

Bird Eyewear

Bird, the UK’s first B-Corp Certified eyewear brand in the UK, creates stylish eco-friendly sunglasses from sustainable materials. This includes FSC-certified wood, bio-based acetate made from wood pulp, and recycled aluminium.

The health of your eyes is also strongly considered. With UV400 protection, this means that Bird’s sunglasses can filter out up to 99% of harmful UVA and UVB rays that can damage your eyes. This is slightly higher than what both the CE Mark and British Standards require for eye protection.

Bird also considers the life cycle of their sunglasses. When your sunglasses reach the end of their life, it is useful to know that Bird has its own closed-loop recycling programme. Send your old Bird glasses back to Bird for recycling, and you get £40 off your next order.

Bird has even considered those little extra sustainable touches. Bird’s cleaning cloths are made from recycled plastic bottles. Their cases are made from renewable cork. And what’s more, your new glasses arrive in reusable, recyclable and biodegradable packaging. 

The benefits of Bird’s sunglasses don’t stop there. Bird operates a buy one, give one model. This means that for every pair of Bird sunglasses sold, a solar light is given to a family in Zambia or Malawi. This is administered in partnership with SolarAid, a charity dedicated to combating both poverty and climate change. 

Why solar lights? According to Solar Aid, 598 million people in Africa don’t have access to electricity at home. Instead, they rely on fossil fuel-burning lamps. These are a poor source of light, give off toxic smoke, are hazardous, and are costly to run. Replacing these lamps with solar-powered alternatives has many benefits for families, whilst saving carbon emissions.

Browse the Bird Eyewear range at Social Supermarket, priced from £89.

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CHPO

If you are on a tight budget or are a serial loser of sunglasses, then the Swedish brand CHPO offers stylish eco-friendly sunglasses for men and women on a budget.

Made from 100% recycled plastic, you can look good without costing the earth. What’s more, you don’t have to compromise on protection. CHPO’s glasses offer UV400 protection from the sun’s rays.

CHPO takes a strong social stand for an equal society without racism, homophobia and hatred against women. As a part of its Made for Everywhere scheme, CHPO collaborates with non-profit or charity organisations. Here 100% of the profits are donated to these causes.

Browse the CHPO range on Amazon, with prices starting from £20.

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Grech & Co Kids Sunglasses

If you are looking for eco-friendly sunglasses for kids, then Grech & Co’s recycled sunglasses. These stylish, retro-inspired children’s glasses are made from recycled plastic, for a lower impact.

This European-American label, founded in Denmark, focuses on using conscious production methods and materials to produce practical products that are kind to the environment.

Suitable for 18 months old and onwards, Grech & Co’s sunglasses offer UV400 protection. Again this offers the best protection from the sun for delicate little peepers.

To help keep your kid’s glasses safe, each pair of glasses comes with a handy drawstring pouch.

Browse the Grech & Co range at Kidly, priced from £22.

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Waterhaul

Waterhaul sunglasses make sunglasses with a purpose. As a social enterprise, Waterhaul seeks to tackle ghost fishing gear and nets left behind in our oceans by transforming this waste into UV400 sunglasses.

Founded by marine conservationists, Waterhaul says that abandoned fishing gear and nets are the most common and the most lethal forms of plastic in our oceans – trapping and killing marine life. As such, Waterhaul collects fishing nets from across the coastline of Cornwall. These are then shredded, washed and turned into plastic pellets. The pellets are then used to make sunglasses.

You might be wondering how durable products made from fishing nets really are. Worry not, Waterhaul says that fishing nets are incredibly durable. When these nets are recycled, this makes for super-strong sunglasses frames. Waterhaul stands by this so much that it offers a lifetime warranty on all its sunglasses.

This warranty means that if your glasses break, you can return your sunglasses or eyewear frames to Waterhaul. Waterhauld will then repair or replace the frame free of charge. You just need to cover shipping. Do note that a small fee applies for recycling and replacing other product components, such as sunglasses lenses.

Waterhaul is also developing schemes to assist in preventing gear loss at the source, alongside a port-based pilot scheme in Pembrokeshire.

Browse the range of Waterhaul sunglasses at Etsy where prices start from £60.

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I hope I’ve been able to help you find your dream ethical sunglasses. As always, I will keep this post updated – so even if you haven’t, then do check back soon for more eco-friendly sunglasses recommendations!

And if your old sunglasses have broken, then do check out my guide on what to do with old glasses to help keep them out of landfill.