Half of the work we do is educating future designers, students and other brands to think differently about the materials they use to make their products.
Within the first year of launching, Selfridges London recognised we were different and gave us an entire window in their flagship store. These windows are the most sort after retail space in the world. And we won two Good Design Awards for our innovative design.
We’ve now had a big win in education and by buying our glasses you have helped to facilitate it.
Solving the global plastic problem with good design
There is a very clear path to solving the global waste problem. Design out the issues.
Design a product, be it an aeroplane, a phone or a pair of glasses, with end of life in mind. It should be easy to disassemble so the parts can be reused and made into new products.
For example, our frame can be separated into its individual components by hand in under five seconds without using tools. Very, very few eyewear brands can do that.
We tried a few and it took us 45 minutes, involved a screwdriver, two pairs of pliers, a saw, a hammer and plasters for all the cuts to our hands!
This means almost all eyewear goes to landfill. With 4 billion people on the planet wearing frames that’s a lot of trash.
Manufacturing with waste materials is not easy so it takes real commitment (and a healthy dose of courage) to even contemplate it, so Good Citizens is the proof it can be done; to push through the failures to achieve truly world changing results. Nik is often called in to universities and colleges and ask to talk to their students about what we do and how our principles can be used within their projects.
But when we found out that our business had been included in the Victorian Curriculum for design students, we knew we were starting to get cut through. One section of last year’s exam was dedicated to Good Citizens, how we design, how we manufacture and how we do business in general.
It’s moments like this that you realise how many important the work we do is and how we must continue against all the odds.
So fellow Good Citizens, thanks for supporting us and wearing our 100% recycled eco-sunglasses, recycled readers and recycled prescription glasses.
