3-D just became eco-friendly! Earth friendly products and concepts are important. The modern era of 3-D arrived in November 2005 with the release of “Chicken Little” and the number of theaters that have gone 3-D has mushroomed along with the number of movies being released in 3-D. There’s been a sharp increase in the number of petroleum based plastic 3-D glasses that have been created and disposed of (or piled up at my house.) There have been about 250 million on an annual basis and that number will continue to grow.
Theaters have a recycling program, but their eyewear is still made from a petroleum-based product that is not renewable and sustainable and will sit in a landfill for 500 years before they degrade. But hope is here, there is new 3-D eyewear made from Cereplast, a renewable and sustainable material that contains no fossil fuels, the product is natural. The eco-friendly 3-D glasses can be used once or many times. When they are no longer usable, they can be recycled, as they bear the number 7 in the recycle symbol, like the petroleum based 3-D glasses currently in use.
While not optimal, if the eco-friendly 3-D glasses end up in a landfill, they will degrade far more rapidly than traditional plastic glasses. Plant based materials such as used in Cereplast are renewable. We can plant new crops this year and more next year, if necessary. The impact on our environment is considerable. Consider a pair of the plastic glasses that seem ubiquitous in the industry. Ten million pairs of the glasses made from Cereplast is equivalent to eliminating green house emissions from burning 74,039 gallons of gasoline or 1,536 barrels of oil. They are available from Berezin.com. For more information check out Oculus 3D’s website.