Sustainable brand Coral Eyewear announces partnership with British Formula E driver Alexander Sims
Racing driver Alexander Sims gets behind British startup, Coral Eyewear, which uses discarded fishing nets for their frames.
Coral Eyewear, an innovative start-up brand crafting beautifully designed glasses frames from waste plastic and abandoned fishing nets, is partnering with British racing driver Alexander Sims. The company will equip him with its eco-friendly glasses and sunglasses ahead of the recommencement of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship in Berlin (August 3rd).
Alexander Sims competes for BMW i Andretti Motorsport in Formula E – the forward-thinking motorsport series that uses all-electric race cars.
Currently sitting at 3rd place in the FIA Formula E Championships, Sims is the highest placed British Driver.
Recognised as an advocate for electric mobility and sustainability, both on and off the race track, Sims’ move to Coral Eyewear is his latest environmentally conscious switch.
The Coral Eyewear team is incredibly inspiring in its efforts to provide an alternative to virgin plastic frames that are stylish, but most importantly support the circular economy,” says Sims.
I’m always striving to make my home life more sustainable alongside promoting electric mobility through Formula E. I’ve competed in glasses for the past four years and I’m looking forward to switching my eyewear over to a sustainable option.”
Sustainable glasses reduce waste and support the ocean
As previously reported by CleanTech News, around 640,000 tonnes of abandoned fishing nets are cast into the oceans each year. Thus contributing significantly to plastic pollution across the globe.
It can take 600 years for these materials to break down, and during this time microplastic fragments are ingested by marine animals.
Just one abandoned net is estimated to entangle 30-40 animals each year.
Sustainable brand Coral Eyewear announces partnership with British Formula E driver Alexander Sims – CleanTech News
Alexander Sims wearing Coral Eyewear brown sunglasses.
Coral Eyewear is helping to reduce this waste in our oceans by reusing it and creating infinitely recyclable and stylish eyewear frames, supporting the circular economy that is essential to meeting global sustainability goals.
George Bailey, Co-Founder and CEO of Coral Eyewear, explains:
Millions of pairs of glasses and sunglasses are manufactured from virgin plastic each year. It’s no longer good enough to make people choose between style and sustainability and that’s why I decided to set up this business at university.
Alexander’s environmental ethics align with ours and his career is evidence of the fact that eyewear, sustainability and high-performance can sit together perfectly. With Alexander wearing our glasses and sunglasses, we really believe we can change the way people see the entire eyewear industry and remove any stigma associated with recycled materials.”
Frames made from fishing nets
Coral Eyewear’s frames are made from ECONYL, pellets of recycled nylon created from regenerated ocean fishing nets and fabric scraps from landfill.
As well as being a solution for waste, the ECONYL process also reduces the global warming impact by up to 90% when compared to making the material from oil.
The brand has launched its first range of glasses and sunglasses via Kickstarter. This means that those looking to support the brand will benefit from exclusive pre-order prices and complimentary prescription lenses until July 30th.
Among those already supporting Coral Eyewear is entrepreneur, philanthropist and TV personality, Jake Humphrey.v