International group can send your used glasses to places in the next eclipse path

Tens of millions of eclipse glasses have been produced for the April 8 solar eclipse. With 20 years until the next solar eclipse over the U.S., it is likely that many of these will languish in drawers or end up in landfills.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Tens of millions of eclipse glasses have been produced for the April 8 solar eclipse. With 20 years until the next solar eclipse over the U.S., it is likely that many of these will languish in drawers or end up in landfills.

But there's another way to prevent used eclipse glasses from ending up in landfills -- donate them for reuse.

The international organization Astronomers Without Borders (AWB) has collected millions of glasses and distributed thousands around the world. This allows people who live in the path of a future eclipse to safely view the celestial phenomena, without needing to buy a new pair for just a single use.

AWB communications manager Andrew Fazekas said that the program began in 2017, ahead of that eclipse.

"It was so successful with hundreds of collection sites across the nation, with donations reaching in the millions of glasses," Fazekas said. "There are a lot of underserved communities that just don't have access to this safe eyewear. So we've been providing hundreds of thousands of glasses across the world, for places like Chile, Argentina, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines."

The City of Austin will have AWB recycling boxes at its recreation centers, senior centers, cultural centers, the Austin Nature and Science Center and Austin Public Library branches, according to Jessica Gilda, Austin Parks and Recreation nature-based programs manager.

"[An] eclipse coming here in our town is rare, but it happens about every year and a half," said Gilda at a city press conference on April 2. "There's an eclipse somewhere, and not all the communities have the same resources that we have. So we're going to share the resources that we have and make it a more sustainable experience."

Fazekas said that the effort helps to "put a dent" in eclipse waste, but millions will still have to be thrown away.

"We probably can't reach all of them... we are not expecting to collect all of them by any means, and many are going to be damaged," he said. "But I think we can reach numbers in the low millions at least, and prevent those from reaching landfills. Gently used glasses are going to be well worth saving, and giving a chance for other folks around the world to experience this is a wonderful thing."