Don't Throw Away Those Eclipse Glasses

donate eclipse glasses
GETTY IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES NEWS/SPENCER PLATT/STAFF
GETTY IMAGES/GETTY IMAGES NEWS/SPENCER PLATT/STAFF

You have somehow managed to win the Black Friday-like scramble for eclipse glasses. You weren't clawing out anyone's eyes to get the last ones at your local library, and you weren't one of the unfortunate people who got bunk glasses online. Your vision isn't ruined. You've emerged from the Great American Eclipse victorious and enlightened. Maybe you even shed a tear at its beauty.

Congratulations. You won the eclipse. But don't throw those eclipse glasses away. 

If you aren't hoarding them for the 2024 eclipse, there is a very good use for them. Astronomers Without Borders will take them off your hands and put them in the hands of children. The glasses will be redistributed across South America and Asia for the 2019 total solar eclipse. They will be used to aid STEM education in schools that can't afford to provide glasses for their students.

Details on the program are still coming together. There aren't specified donation locations yet, but the group says they will announce details in the next couple days.

“Many schools in developing countries don’t have resources for science education, and this is a rare opportunity that inspires students and teachers and shows them that science is something they can do. It can be a ray of hope for young people who don’t otherwise see a path to a career like this,” Astronomers Without Borders president Mike Simmons told Gizmodo.

The publication also notes that if you can't be bothered to wait a couple of days, you can mail your glasses to Astronomers Without Borders’ corporate sponsor, Explore Scientific, at 621 Madison Street, Springdale, Arkansas.

So, hang onto those glasses for a couple days and make an impact.

h/t Gizmodo

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Dustin Nelson is a News Writer with Thrillist. He holds a Guinness World Record but has never met the fingernail lady. Follow him @dlukenelson.