The first sunglasses made with 100% recycled fishing nets

Meet the first sunglasses made with 100% recycled fishing nets.

Ocean is the name of the eyewear collection made by Karün along with Bureo and local fishing communities of Chile.

Did you know that fishing nets account for about 10% of ocean pollution?

As a way of taking advantage of this material and help reduce its impact on the environment, Karün in 2015 made an unprecedented fact: launching the first sunglasses in the world made with 100% recycled fishing nets.

Ocean is the name of this collection which was created along with the B corp Bureo, who make skateboards of fishing nets, and with the help of local fishing communities, reaching to convert this source of collected trash in the coasts of Chile, in a source of income for them. In fact, part of the proceeds from the purchase of these sunglasses, is used to support recycling programs that provide resources and education to low-income fishing communities affected by this type of waste.

“These premium recycled frames set new benchmarks for sustainable materials for the eyeglass industry, while leaving a positive impact on our natural environment”, said the founder of Karün, Thomas Kimber.

The collection became the second most successful campaign of eyewear in the financing platform for creative projects, Kickstarter, raising US$ 180,000, equivalent to 1,800 sunglasses sold in 30 days and won the support of 1,300 people from 20 different countries.

And why do we think it is important to take advantage of this waste to create sunglasses?

Because according to the United Nations, each square mile in the ocean contains an average of 46,000 pieces of floating plastic and only in 2014, 32% of the world’s plastic production finished in the sea. For the same reason each frame elaborated in our collection is a contribution to the prevention of more plastic between our oceans.