WWF and VisionDirect are releasing sunglasses made from old fishing net

A vision for the future.

Eyewear retailer VisionDirect has teamed up with the World Wild Fund for Nature on a creative upcycling project.

Last year, donations to WWF-Australia were used to purchase the licence for the last commercial fishing net operating full-time in the northern Great Barrier Reef. The intention was to prevent marine animals from becoming fatally trapped in the nets. 

After retiring the net from its former trawling life, the organisation was stuck on what to do with it.

With the help of Arise Collective – an eyewear brand stocked by VisionDirect – the 600-metre-long net is now being turned into 1,000 pairs of protective sunglasses.

The first drop of these ReefCycle glasses will be available as a limited-edition run, with each pair featuring the embossed image of a marine animal. Regular, polarised, and prescription options will all be on offer.

50 per cent of all proceeds will go back to WWF to fund further conservation work.

This first release will hopefully be followed by many more, allowing the organisation to source and re-use other nets dumped in the ocean.

Pre-order here for delivery in September.

wwf.org.au