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160 bottles of ocean plastic collected with every sale in Australia.

Shady Rays

Collaborating for cleaner oceans

For Shady Rays, their motto “Live Hard. We Got you” has never only applied to their products and customer service. It also represents how Shady Rays enable their customers to have a direct positive impact on the world while living their lives. Now, through their new partnership with Verdn, that motto extends further still.

As of October 2020, each pair of Shady Rays sunglasses sold in Australia will directly finance the cleanup of 160 bottles’ worth of ocean-bound plastic. That’s 2 kg (4.4 lbs), or over 50x the plastic present in the frames themselves.

The cleanup takes place along polluted rivers and shorelines in both Africa and Asia. The work is carried out by Empower AS in collaboration with local partner organizations. The cleanup is facilitated and tracked by Verdn, which in turn allows every Shady Rays customer to see when and where plastic was collected on their behalf.

Ocean plastic is a huge problem. Every year over 8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans, and it’s expected that ocean plastic might outweigh all fish by 2050. Furthermore, only 10% of all plastic is ever recycled. That is why Shady Rays decided to tackle the issue head on, making sure thousands of kilos of plastic stays out of our oceans every month.

And the benefits don’t stop there. All plastic cleanup is carried out by local workers, living in underprivileged communities. By putting a value on the plastic, the waste pickers are given an opportunity to multiply their normal income, which translates into better health, better education for their children, and security.

You can view Shady Rays' website here.