• You may have become tired of your old pair

• Your prescription may have changed and you may now need another pair for clear vision

• You may want a spare pair at your disposal.

It is not easy to replace a used pair of eyeglasses. Once you get used to the pair, it is difficult to simply throw it away.

Spare Glasses Are Useful In Emergencies

Whether you should dispose your old pair of eyeglasses or whether you should retain them depends on the extent of change in the prescription. If it has changed a lot, wearing the old pair again may be harmful for your eyes.

However, if it has not changed a lot, you may keep the old pair for use in case of an emergency. It is better to have an old pair in your hands rather than being stuck no eyeglasses in the event your eyeglasses break or get lost.

Further, adjusting to a new frame takes some time. In the meantime, if you want to focus on any task without any distraction, you can revert back to the old one until the job is done. Needless to say, this is a temporary process.

Charity Begins At Home

If your prescription has changed and you have a new pair made for you, then you obviously have no use for the old pair. Consider donating this old pair and making a significant difference to one's life.

If retaining the old pair may lead to further damage to your eyes, it is best to dispose it off. However, do not throw it away as garbage. Before doing such a thing, consider the fact that every one in four persons in the world today urgently needs eyeglasses.

The citizens of the under developed nations find something as essential as eyeglasses to be beyond their financial capabilities. They earn so less than even three months of salary is not sufficient to buy a new pair of eyeglasses.

As on date, North America alone throws away more than four million old or unused eyeglasses as garbage. The poor and needy persons would not mind using a second hand pair of eyeglasses. Hence, do not act in haste and dispose your eyeglasses as trash.

There are many organizations that collect eyeglasses and make sure the gifts reach the poor and needy persons. Some groups are named below:

• Goodwill Industries stores

• Lions Club drop boxes

• LensCrafters stores

These groups collect all types of glasses including prescription eyeglasses, non-prescription eyeglasses, prescription sunglasses, non-prescription sunglasses, reading glasses etc

You can gift your old eyeglasses without any hassles whatsoever. Groups like New Eyes for the Needy or Lions Club provide drop boxes in many areas. If the drop box is not located close to you, you can always mail them in well packed boxes.

The groups and charities proceed to establish contact with various medical missions in different countries. They make arrangements for the glasses to reach the poor and need people.

The impact of such measures can be understood by the fact that eye care clinics are called ‘joy clinics'. The joy of having one's vision restored to normalcy is something that can only be felt by those who have suffered poor vision.