If you’re here, you probably know that a main pillar in the Sunskiverse is sustainability, in our products and our practices. We are committed to doing the right thing for the planet just because it is the right thing to do. So, we applied this to our shades and SuperLight was born.
What is SuperLight Recycled Plastic?
Let’s start with the basics. What is Superlight? SuperLight Recycled Plastic is a resin made from post-industrial scrap plastic, a material recycled from a manufacturing process, not after being used by a person. These plastics and materials would otherwise end up landfills across the country, and that just didn’t fly with us.
The Origins of SuperLight
To fully understand SuperLight, we need to go back to the beginning. So, let’s take it back in time a little. From the beginning, we have been dedicated to creating a sustainable product that does not sacrifice quality.
You see, we didn’t just find this stuff. We invented it.
While there is a lot of recycled materials out there, our frame material needed to be flexible, comfortable and strong, and a lot of post-consumer recycled plastics didn’t cut it. In order to create the most sustainable product, we wanted to make something that would last and was sourced in the US to reduce emissions. Turns out, a turnkey high quality recycled material that fit our requirements didn’t exist. So, in normal Sunski fashion, we created it ourselves.
All Sunski shades feature our SuperLight Plastic!
It took us about 3.5 years from when this project started until we launched our first SuperLight collection in 2018. Lots of experimenting, and testing was required to achieve what we wanted. By 2020, all our frames used SuperLight. A big accomplishment and team achievement we are very proud of.
How is SuperLight made?
SuperLight Recycled Plastic starts at a medical device manufacturing facility in Illinois. Scraps from this facility are collected and saved from their ultimate destination, a landfill (bleh!). Once we intercept, we are able to begin creating the resin.
The Velo is our perfect example of how SuperLight does not sacrifice performance.
The first step in this process involves making these post-industrials scraps into pellets. From there, they are resynthesized with the properties we want in our product. Once this step is complete, we are ready to send it off to our manufacturer who injects the newly made plastic into a mold of whatever pair of shades they are creating. And hark, a pair of Sunski sunglasses is born!
When creating our SuperLight Plastic, we had one thing in mind: make the best sunglasses possible, without having sustainability be a limiting factor to what we can do. We did just that. The plastic we created has no limitations or considerations versus virgin plastic. It achieves all of the properties necessary to create the best sunglasses on earth for outdoor adventure.
SuperLight Reycyled Plastic keep your peepers protected without any discomfort for a full day of adventures!
Seriously Sustainable Sunglasses
At Sunski, we are committed to being a leader in sustainable business and creating our own recycled frame material is part of that initiative. By using post-industrial material and sourcing it from the US, we are able to cut out the extra energy and oil that gets put into the manufacturing of virgin plastic. This goes along with the reduction of plastic going into landfills.
But, using recycled materials alone isn't enough to do our part. Our commitment to sustainable sunglasses includes offering a lens replacement program that lengthens the life of your shades and removing single use plastics from our packaging. All of this plus our 1% for the Planet membership play into our commitment to be an all around sustainable business.
Our glue and plastic free packaging is a small part of our bigger initiative for setting the bar in sustainable business.
Curious to learn more about how we make our sunglasses? Check out our No Shortcuts Design Process.
Meet the Author
Delaney is a California native turned Colorado adventurer, who finds boundless joy in the great outdoors. From the beach to the mountains she likes to spend time outside in whatever capacity she can. As Web Operator at Sunski, Delaney loves to geek out on e-commerce and ensure that others can experience the beauty of the world through Sunski's digital presence.
