Feel Better Wearing Pacifico.
At the heart of Pacifico, is our love for adventure and the outdoors. This was the inspiring force that drove us to create high quality sunglasses that we can view the beautiful word around us through. We also had to make sure that they had the durability to withstand the humps and bumps of any adventure.
In producing such a product, we were faced with the challenge to be as environmentally friendly as possible and to look after the same outdoors we created the sunglasses to explore. So, we are really proud to be able to say that Pacifico has strived to become one of the most sustainable eyewear brands on the market. From our frames to our lenses and even our packaging, we have incorporated some of the eco-friendliest materials and processes in the industry today.
What our frames are made out of?
Bio-Acetate
With the advancements made by our Italian acetate supplier, Mazzucchelli on how they produce acetate, we have recently been able to transition Pacififico’s eyewear frames to a bio-acetate material.
Acetate is derived from cotton and wood pulp based fibres and turned into cellulose acetate, a transparent raw base for adding colour. The colours are applied with organic powders and repeatedly sent through rollers for the desired thickness.
Cellulose is a natural polymer which represents the backbone of the whole plant kingdom.
By reacting cellulose with acetic anhydride, Cellulose Acetate is obtained. Usually plasticizers are fossil fuel based but our suppliers have substituted this with plasticizers, derived from vegetable oils. These are added to Cellulose Acetate to improve its physical characteristics and workability, to become one of the most important raw materials for the production of glasses, as this means the material is composed mainly of materials from renewable sources.
This plant based acetate is then cut into sheets and hand crafted and polished into the final Pacifico product you see today.
LIFE CYCLE OF CELLULOSE ACETATE
How are our lenses made?
Our lenses are made using processes to reduce the amount of chemical wastage used in the lens production. Our lens partner manufacturers are leading the industry in doing this, by releasing one of the first plant-based lenses on the market.
Our lenses are 60% more sustainable than PC, shatter resistant lens whilst at the same time offer the quality and clarity than any other lens on the market. During manufacturing, all excess waste is packed and reused in the creation of each lens.
The coatings technology we use is a sustainable premium sun lens, engineered with ground breaking renewable plant sources and are independently lab tested in the USA. They are USDA Bio-preferred certified and full ASTM D6866 rated.
What are our products packaged in?
All of the paper products used in our packaging are made from recycled paper materials. This includes the box the glasses come in, and any information cards or thankyou notes.
Furthermore, when shipping our products to the customer, we use recycled paper as opposed to bubble wrap for protection and bio-degradable parcel sleeves that also double as a returns sleeve.
Do we recycle our products?
We do indeed recycle our frames. Pacifico has recently implemented an initiative to ensure that our frames aren't ending up in oceans and landfill.
We are offering our customers who are looking to upgrade or replace their old Pacifico frames, 40% off a new pair as long as the old pair are returned for our team to recycle into new frames. Email support@pacificooptical.com for more information.
