In a development described by its founder, the Optical Suppliers Association (OSA), as the most ‘significant initiative for the entire optical community,’ a new Green Charter will seek to engage members across all corners of the industry in the battle to lessen its impact on climate change.
‘The OSA Green Charter aims to ensure as many people as possible are engaged in the journey to sustainability,’ said chair of the OSA Sustainability Committee, Jayne Abel. The charter was launched with ‘great acceptance’ by members at its autumn meeting last week. The charter will provide a framework and enable targets to be set to encourage companies of all sizes to make progress. Its focus will be on achieving carbon net zero and eliminating all single-use plastics, and there will be four levels of accreditation.
Measures included as part of the accreditation include the appointment of a sustainability officer in each business, along with sustainability champions across each part of the company. Other aspects of participant operations to be addressed included greener premises, reducing transportation, eliminating paper use, and promoting energy savings in production. ‘ISO 14001 Environmental Management is covered in the charter as is the attainment of B Corp certification in meeting standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability,’ added Abel.
She continued: ‘It is important to have a robust and authentic strategy to protect the future of our planet. The positivity and peace of mind cannot be underestimated in knowing that your business is becoming part of the solution. It is also something that I know brings respect from industry partners and colleagues.’
The OSA’s existing sustainability glossary was highlighted as a valuable resource for potential participants. ‘Along with the Green Charter, it is a tool for ensuring that there is real understanding of the terms used in the drive to a greener future for the optical community,’ added Abel.
At the meeting, Hoya professional services director, Andy Sanders, praised the Green Charter and said Hoya had already implemented many of the aspects of this, having already achieved zero to landfill.
The OSA also recognised Abel’s knowledge of the sustainability challenges of the sector through her role as co-founder and CEO of Eyespace. ‘Her insights have been valuable in establishing the OSA’s commitment to foster co-operation across the optical community,’ said a spokesperson for the OSA.
Practice takes stance against wasteful suppliers
Cardiff-based Pearce and Blackmore Opticians has issued a challenge to its eyewear suppliers to reduce the amount of single-use plastic being used.
Co-owner and practice manager Francesca Blackmore said the company had begun issuing a letter to frame suppliers encouraging them to take plastic use packaging by return and re-use or recycle them.
‘We’ve always felt that optics is a particularly wasteful sector, and we’ve always had lots of ideas of how this can be improved. Since being shortlisted in the Sustainable Practice of the Year category in the Optician Awards, we felt it was time we started to try and affect change within our profession on a bigger scale than just within our practices,’ said Blackmore.
Although some frames suppliers had made the move to more environmentally friendly compostable packaging, Blackmore said she and co-owner Claire Pearce had found that these types of packaging rarely broke down in a home composter.
Blackmore concluded: ‘As yet, none of the companies that we buy frames from have mentioned a scheme for reuse similar to what we have proposed, but we know that many suppliers are working towards being more eco-friendly, so we hope that they will be happy to help us put something in place to close this packaging loop. We also hope that other practices will follow this lead and ask their suppliers to offer a similar reuse scheme.’