Ditching plastic is a growing trend for companies around the world. A coffee shop in Ukraine has come up with an eco-friendly alternative to plastic sunglasses: glasses made with coffee waste.
Max Havrylenko turns coffee grounds into designer eye wear at his company "Ochis Coffee."
"It's durable and fully functionality like other plastic glasses, but it's organic ones," Havrylenko said.
The glasses are made from a caffeinated blend of grounds, flax, and vegetable oil. Even the lenses are made from recycled cotton. Havrylenko said creating the glasses from something other than plastic is his way of helping the environment.
"It's eco-friendly compound," he said. "When you put it in the soil or water these glasses will decompose after 10 years."
Other companies are turning coffee waste into everything from cups, to furniture, to clothing. But Havrylenko, who comes from a family of opticians, might be the first to produce eye wear. And here's some food for thought: The world produces nearly 6 million tons of leftover grounds every year.
Environmental adviser Libby Peake said the coffee material is much more biodegradable than conventional plastics.
"There are estimations that the level of plastic in the ocean is going to be greater than the weight of the fish in the ocean by 2050 if we don't change what we're doing," Peake said.
Havrylenko has sold 500 pairs of his coffee glasses to customers all over the world — including in the U.S. — and hopes more people will share his vision to help save the planet.
The coffee sunglasses sell for $89 a pair.