Now that the eclipse is over, what do we do with our glasses? No question of throwing them in the trash like in this caricature by Godin! I give you 3 options to give a second life to your pretty glasses!
Option 1: sharing
You can give your glasses to other children around the world so that they too can observe an eclipse! The American organization Eclipse Glasses USA collects old pairs of glasses to send them to South America. That’s because an eclipse will take place in Chile and Argentina on October 2, 2024. If you’re interested, you have until October 1er August 2024 to slip your pair into an envelope and mail it to this address: Eclipse Glasses USA, PO Box 50571, Provo, Utah, 84605, United States.
Option 2: conservation
You can obviously keep your eclipse glasses as a souvenir. You can even take them out again in less than a year to admire… the next eclipse! Yes, a partial eclipse will be visible on March 29, 2025 in southern Quebec, and another will take place on August 12, 2026 throughout Quebec! If you’ve had the astronomy bug, you can also use them to look at the Sun from time to time in complete safety. But beware ! This type of glasses has a limited lifespan. It is no longer recommended to use them three years after purchase.
Option 3: recycling
It is also possible to recycle your old eclipse glasses. Simply remove the solar filters, which cannot be recycled and which you can throw in the trash. You can then send your cardboard frame to the blue bin!
All these options are good to prevent Quebec’s trash cans from overflowing with glasses!
By Siméon Dumont, trainee journalist
Want to know more?
Do you like to understand the news?
Come take a look at lesasdelinfo.com. We also have a whole section for teachers!
An Information Coops initiative supported by the Government of Canada.
