MONTOURSVILLE, Pa. — The hype is over, and now the waste is building. Eclipse glasses are being thrown away by the hundreds of thousands.
But Astronomers Without Borders, a nonprofit group, is partnering with local libraries, schools, museums, and organizations to help share the eclipse awe with others.
"Saw Astronomers Without Borders doing a Facebook post about their recycling and thought, well, heck, we're a conservation organization, we should get in on this," said Renee Carey, Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy Executive Director.
The Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservatory in Montoursville is one of a network of hundreds of locations across the country where you can drop off your solar eclipse glasses to be recycled for future use.
"With the eclipse being on April 8th, it's just a couple weeks out from both Earth Day and Arbor Day, and as a conservation organization, we try to look at opportunities to promote recycling and reusing things," explained Carey.
Hundreds of people have already donated their gently used eclipse glasses in Lycoming County.
"We are well over 200 pairs of glasses that have been dropped off or turned in to us. We're gonna take the glasses; we have some volunteers who will take a look at them, make sure that they have the ISO rating that they're supposed to have, that they aren't too bent up, and that the lenses aren't scratched or deteriorating," said Carey.
Carey says you can get them to the conservancy one of three ways: "You can drop them off at our office. We're also partnering with Otto's Bookstore in downtown Williamsport they've got a collection box there. You can stop in, drop them off, maybe buy a book or two."
Finally, you could drop them in the mail to PO Box 2083, Williamsport 17703.
All collected eclipse glasses will be donated by Astronomers Without Borders to people in countries with upcoming eclipses.
The next eclipse can be visible in Hawaii, Chile, and Argentina this upcoming October.
It will be an annular eclipse, or when the moon doesn't completely cover the sun during its total phase.
With Earth Day around the corner, this is a great way to "...help people figure out ways to not generate as much waste that ends up going to the landfill," added Carey.