FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Still thinking about donating or recycling your eclipse glasses? One Fort Wayne business is offering collections this Saturday through May 4th.
They can be dropped off at Vessel Refillery FW located at 10376 Leo Road, Suite G, Fort Wayne, IN 46825. A map of this location can be found below.
The business is collaborating with Astronomers Without Borders Donate glasses for future reuse and redistribution. Heather Eracleous, owner of Vessel Refillery, came up with the idea after noticing the abundance of glasses after a solar eclipse. She did a quick Google search for her and decided to contact the person. Astronomers Without Borders organization. Her business thus became a place where people could drop off their eclipse glasses.
Eracleas is expected to probably come in one or two boxes. Instead, she received tens of thousands of emails and boxes of them piled up at her office. Her glasses came from Oklahoma, Texas, New York, Wisconsin and Washington, as well as generous local donations. An organization donated 15,000 of her glasses.
What's special about Eracleous is that people come to drop their glasses and tell us stories of the eclipse. Some did not go far, some were on their way, and some remained in Fort Wayne. Many of them didn't buy their glasses until about 2-3 days before the eclipse. Everyone had different stories to tell, but most said how amazing the experience of observing the eclipse was. Eracleous is excited that anyone could see something like this in their lifetime and loves talking to people about it.
All of these glasses must be inspected after collection is complete. Glasses must be ISO certified, given a specific number, and manufactured by a specific manufacturer. It is also necessary that the lens is undamaged. This is done to ensure that it is safe for the next person to use it.
There are many other places around the country that collect these glasses. Click here for more information. It has not yet been determined where these glasses will be sent from the refill station, but they will likely help people in need. “They are delivering these glasses to students in South America, Latin America…all over the world, in poorer parts of the world who may not be able to afford these glasses or have other means of obtaining them,” said Eracleas. I'm sure it will be done,” he said.
A volunteer night will be held on Thursday, May 9th to inspect all glasses. If you're interested in participating, check out the website or Facebook page for more information. If all glasses cannot be inspected in one night, a second or third volunteer night may be held.
Vessel Refillery is a refill service that allows you to bring in empty containers from home, such as shampoo or dish detergent containers, and refill them with your products. These products are organic or gluten-free. Everything is safe for you and the environment.
I hope you enjoy the solar eclipse. Please consider adding glasses to the donation box until this Saturday. Eracleous wants to hear about your solar eclipse…
