At Carlottas Village we thought about sustainability long before it was a trend. Our glasses have a low carbon footprint. They all have a very low weight and a long lifetime. Our materials are recyclable and biodegradable. And - of course - they are all allergy friendly. We care as much about you as we care about our planet.
We carefully pick our suppliers and ensure that they comply with our standards by conducting licensed environmental and ethical trade audits.
We are not at all fully sustainable and who should actually be the ones to judge that anyway? There are (still) so many different takes on sustainability.
Right now our take on sustainability is to try not to damage our beautiful planet by our acts. We are continuously working on this. As well as we persistently work to convince our suppliers that they must do this as well. As we need them to make great eyewear for you.
It means a lot to us that we can vouch for our products. That is why we have selected these three materials:
Titanium is a fantastic material as well. It has a very high strength. In fact, it is one of the strongest metals in existence. It is also a chemical element. It is biodegradable and recyclable. It is allergy friendly, too. This is a property very important to us as you wear your glasses close to your skin. We use pure block titanium for fronts and temples and in alloys with a bit of aluminum. Then it is called beta-titanium and we use it to obtain flexibility when we need that.
What is the difference between surgical steel and "normal" stainless steel you might ask. Surgical steel is actually a version of stainless that is mostly used for biomedical tools, etc. Hence the name. All steel types are iron alloys and they come in many different flavors depending on what you want to use it for. Steel is subject to corrosion from salt water. Human sweat is salt water. Surgical steel is considered the most corrosion resistant version of the stainless steel alloys.
So to get the most corrosion resistant steel material we use surgical steel for our steel eyewear. Why use steel at all? A steel frame is still light but has a bit more of a sturdy appearance than titanium. This is preferred by some eyewear users who think titanium is too light.