The co-founders of “Origine” are opticians, Julien Grandchamp and Bastien Picot, previously shared a traditional optical store in Toulouse, but their models of wooden and recycled glasses, made in France, were successful. With the desire to move towards more energy sobriety and reduce their carbon footprint, they opened an eco-responsible store in early July at 12 rue de Bayard in Toulouse.
Water for cutting glasses, filtered and recycled
Julien Grandchamp explains that “an optician consumes an average of 20 to 30 liters of water to cut two spectacle lenses on a frame. Dirty water goes back into the wastewater circuit, but we have created a water filtration and recovery system that allows us to save 100,000 liters of drinking water per year.”
Of the frames are made of shells, plastic fished in the Mediterranean, wood. The origin of the frames is French for the majority, some are made in Italy. “Origine” works in particular with “La Brique et la Violette”, a local brand based in Eaunes, south of Toulouse. “We travel about twenty kilometers there and back by electric bike to pick up the models at home“, says Julien Grandchamp.
At “Origine”, the worktops are made of recycled bottle caps and the store is supplied with renewable energy. The glasses are reimbursed, classically, by Social Security or mutual insurance companies.
– The Brick and the Violet